


Yesterday Was Better

by Meriora



Series: YWB 'Verse [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-21
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-01-25 23:16:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 85,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1666094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meriora/pseuds/Meriora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every time it rained black snow, the Southern Water Tribe was irrevocably damaged.</p><p>This time is no different.</p><p>(A retelling of ATLA)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Black Snow

That day it rained black snow. Black snow that had graced every tale since the dawn of the Hundred Year War.

"Listen to your parents or else the snow will fall black and the Fire Nation will take you away." 

"Do that again and the black snow will burn you alive!" 

Katara had heard these all before. Not directed at her of course, she was a rather well behaved child and loved it when every woman gushed about her being the splitting image of her grandmother. The only thing she had ever done wrong was move the snow without touching it. The adults hushed and pushed the other kids into their huts while her mother slapped her and told her to never do that again before sobbing uncontrollably. Ever since then, her mom, dad or Gran-Gran took her wherever they went. It was fun helping out, but Katara wanted to play with the other kids. 

Sometimes Sokka would 'humor' his little sister, as he called it and play snow forts with her. Her snow fort always looked sturdier and her snowballs were always rounder, but Sokka took things in stride. On that day, they were playing snow forts and Katara was winning when the first flake of black snow hit Sokka's nose. He froze and slowly looked at the sky as more and more hit the ground. Katara did the same and broke the stunned silence first. "I'm going to find Mom," she said before running off as fast as her four year old legs could carry her. Sokka ran off to find Dad and Uncle Bato. They were big and strong enough to fight the Fire Nation monsters. 

When Katara made it to the hut she shared with her family, there was already someone there with her mom. Someone huge and covered in the dark red of the Fire Nation. He made to say something, perhaps telling her to leave when her dad pushed into the hut behind her, Bato and Sokka in tow. "You have until the count of three to get out of my house and out of my village," her dad snarled, looking just as scary as the man in red. The Fire Nation man laughed and created fire in his palm, scaring Katara but also fascinating her. Maybe if she become big and strong she could create water in her palm too. 

"How about you stay right there and listen to my demands or your village will burn to the ground. All I have to do is send up a little flame, just like this one, and your village is nothing but slush," he threatened. Hakoda and Bato bristled, but lowered their weapons slightly. "Good. Now I was just asking this fine lady here where would I be able to find the last waterbender. She said there weren't anymore but I don't believe her. Women are untrustworthy you see, so maybe you fine gentlemen will tell me the truth." 

Katara looked at her mother's face, which was furrowed in worry, fear and desperation. Her father had the same look on his face, but Bato was busy looking at her, Sokka and the man in red in turn. Where was her Gran-Gran? Did the man hurt her? Did she run away? Her dad meant to say something, but the man let the fire grow bigger and said, "Remember what happens if you lie. I will know and I will not hesitate." His eyes bore right into hers as he said that, and Katara saw cruelty and something sinister. 

Hakoda's face was lined with resignation. "Do you promise to let us be if you have the waterbender?" His words seemed to freeze Katara's blood as her mother looked horrified. The man in red nodded, giving a smile that looked straight out of a demon's face. "Alright, it's m-" 

"It's the girl," Bato said. He was pointing right at her. "She's the waterbender." The air, which had grown warm from the fire in the man's palm, suddenly became frigid as he extinguished the flame. The world was heavy with Bato's words. The man smiled nastily as he pushed past Kya to grab Katara's arm. He easily pulled her out of the hut and once Hakoda felt the icy air, he was awakened out of the trance Bato's betrayal had caused. Without a glance to his son, wife or friend, he made his way towards the exit, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. 

"Hakoda, I know you must hate me, but we have to let her go," Bato said. Hakoda was livid. 

"You put my child in the hands of a monster! The enemy! What will they do to her?" 

"Did you not see how he looked at her? He knew Katara was the waterbender the whole time, he was just testing us. If we failed who knows what he would have done." Bato's unspoken words were heavy in their minds. They couldn't hold off a platoon of fire bending soldiers. It was Katara or the village. 

"How did he know? How would he know Bato?" asked Kya, so softly the men had to strain to hear her. It seemed losing her only daughter had just drained the life out of her, leaving an empty shell. 

"If he knew there was a waterbender here, he must have known more. Not even our brothers and sisters in the North know Katara is a waterbender. It was a secret. Only the villagers know." 

"That means we have a traitor in our midst and that traitor cost me my daughter." 

While the adults were talking, none of them noticed little Sokka running out of the hut. 

Katara yanked and yanked and yanked but no matter what, the man still had a strong grip on her arm. There was no-one outside, no-one but her, the man and the bird faced Fire soldiers. Katara wanted to cry out for help but who would save her? Her mom and dad stood there while he took her away and Bato told, Bato told! It was supposed to be a secret and Bato told! The man had dragged her to the ship when a furious yell and the whistle of a snowball reached her ears. The man in red had gotten hit right in the back of the head with a poorly made snowball. He turned around furiously, expecting another waterbender but stopped when the culprit was just a little boy. 

"Give me back my sister!" Sokka cried, tears streaming down his face as he made another shoddy snowball. He threw it, but it landed weakly at the man in red's feet. The soldiers moved to apprehend Sokka but the man held up his hand. Instead of looking outraged or angry, he looked amused, like what Sokka was doing was funny. 

"Sokka! Sokka!" Katara cried, renewing her efforts to yank her arm out of the man's grasp. 

The man chuckled this time. "Look at this men! This child comes here and dares take on the Southern Raiders with snowballs!" The soldiers looked at each other in confusion, not sure if they were allowed to laugh or not. "Is this the best the Southern Water Tribe had to offer? This child with his snowballs? How hilarious!" He was laughing in earnest now, along with a few hesitant chuckles from his men. Sokka felt the sting of humiliation, which caused even more tears to fall, but he refused to stop. He made snowball after snowball, throwing and throwing, trying in vain to hurt the man. 

The man in red handed Katara over to a soldier and told him to take her onto the ship. "No! Noooo!! Sokka, save me! Please!" Katara yelled, trying her hardest to fight, but there was only so much a four year old girl could do. Sokka finally stopped making snowballs and in a fury, ran to the man in red and started pounding his fists into his gut as hard as he could. Which, considering he was only 6 himself, wasn't much. With barely any effort, the man roughly pushed Sokka into the snow and adjusted his gloves. He bent down so he was at Sokka's level and thrust a flame covered hand into his face. "You’re a brave little boy aren’t you?" he said as Sokka's eyes widened in fear but he did not flinch away. "I want you to become a man. Become strong so you can get your revenge. When that day comes, I, Yon Rha, will be waiting." 

With that Yon Rha and the Southern Raiders left the Southern Water Tribe with their prize. Sokka stayed in the snow when they left. He sat while the tribe finally went outside and surveyed the damage. He refused to budge when his parents found him and only moved when his father and Gran-Gran dragged him home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So this is my first ever Avatar the Last Airbender fanfic and I really hope it's alright. Yes, it's a Katara capturefic which is tried and true, but I hope mine is unique enough to catch your attention and maybe bring you back for more. This is only the introduction and I have a lot more planned for this fic and I hope everyone sticks around! Also, I'm not the best writer, so any critiques would be very much appreciated. I don't have a beta reader and there's only so much I can catch on my own. Thank you for reading!
> 
> ~Meriora


	2. Lieutenant Wei

As soon as she got on the ship, Katara started to cry. Her brother had failed and no-one was going to save her. She cried and cried and cried, causing the soldier who was in charge of watching over her to fidget nervously.

"Umm, please don't cry anymore," he said, squatting to her level and trying to initiate eye contact. That only made her cry harder and he inwardly cursed. Maybe the face plate was scaring her a little. He took it off and attempted a sympathetic smile. "Sorry about that. The mask is kind of scary. My name is Wei, what's yours?" He figured the least he could do was be nice to her, after she was brutally torn from her family and her life and could only to look forward to being imprisoned and tortured for the rest of her life. Just because of something she couldn't control. 

Wei's soothing voice worked wonders as Katara's hiccupping sobs became whimpers and sniffles. She looked up into his eyes with distrust clearly written all over her face. Wei had to bite back a gasp. Her eyes were so blue, they seemed to glow in the dim light. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. Besides the boy he gathered was her brother, Wei had never seen someone from the Water Tribes. When they disembarked, the tribe looked abandoned. 

"Would you like to tell me your name?" he asked the girl with the glowing eyes. She shook her head slowly but still told him her name. "Katara huh? That's a beautiful name," he said, giving her a big smile. "Much better than lousy old Wei." 

She giggled and wiped her red eyes. "My dad said it means waterfall in my tribe’s ancient language," she said softly. Wei smiled at her as she finally said something. From his time in the navy, Wei knew how the rest of the world viewed the Fire Nation. He wanted to show this little girl that they weren't all monsters, they were just helping the lesser nations by spreading their technology. They weren't honorless villains, they normally didn't harm women, and children were off limits surely. Fire Lord Azulon had given Capitan Yon Rha the order to take no prisoners and just kill the waterbender, but no-one said what to do if she was a child. At least his captain had showed enough honor to take the girl prisoner.

"W-Wei?" She asked, voice still quivering from her tears. "What's gonna happen to me? Is my brother okay? Did the man in red hurt him?"

"Your brother? Soo-kah right? The Capitan didn't hurt him. We don't hurt children," he said. "Once we're off this boat, we'll be in the Fire Nation and you'll make a new life there." Wei gave her a winning smile that she weakly returned. "Don't worry Katara, I'll make sure your trip to the Fire Nation will be amazing."

Wei made good on his promise. Even though he was only a rookie fresh out of training, he was the son of a very prominent noble family, one with strong ties to the military. He could do whatever he wanted and that included letting a four year old have free reign over a Southern Raiders ship. Katara wouldn't know this for many years to come, but her blue eyes had captivated Wei and he would be her staunchest ally for the rest of her life. 

Though she was still upset at leaving her home, Katara adapted to life on the ship pretty quickly. She mostly spent her time following Wei around the ship and whenever he would go into restricted areas, she would go into the kitchen and spend time with the cook. All too soon, the ship arrived in port and they were in the Fire Nation. "Here we are," Wei said as they exited the ship. Katara clutched his hand with a vice grip as she looked at the imposing city in front of her. Everyone was wearing various shades of red and she stood out in her faded blue parka. It was much too hot for her to be wearing it, but she refused to wear anything else, not that a military cruiser had clothes for a child. Wei smiled fondly at her as he gently led her off the dock. The other raiders had all gone their separate ways, and Captain Yon Rha had gone to talk to the Fire Lord about Katara. 

Wei was a bit nervous about the proceedings. He had asked the captain to plead for her freedom. Not to go back to the Tribes, but into his custody. He was afraid she would end up like the other Southern Waterbenders, forced into captivity. Wei had never seen where the other waterbenders were being kept, but he had heard rumors. One persistent rumor was that one waterbender managed to escape, while his kinsmen had gone insane. Wei didn't want his pretty Katara to end up like them. "Wei," she said in her little voice. "Where are we going?" He smiled at her and started walking toward the marketplace. 

"Somewhere you'd really like," he said. She was skeptical but had no reason to disbelieve him. He had been right so far about everything. Katara clutched his hand as she was led into the marketplace. She watched the peddlers sell their wares at unsuspecting customers and people haggling over brightly colored fabrics.

They were mostly ignored because a young soldier and a child were not the best customers. He smiled while Katara whipped her head from stall to stall. There was something about seeing someone look at his country with fresh eyes. Things he took for granted were a commodity to her. Wei had so much to show her, but he knew he only had a short time left with her. He wanted to give her nice, something she'd remember him by, and something better than the flashy dresses that caught Katara's eye. Then he saw it. It was in a smaller stall, one not smothered with people and filed with dingy looking goods. It was buried under a mass of scuffed jewelry but it looked perfect. It was a small sliver chain link necklace with a rose colored piece of glass in the middle. 

It was nothing like the jewelry of the nobles or the princesses but it was simple and just understated enough to be ignored. He quickly bought it while Katara was entranced by some brightly colored dresses. "Hey Katara, why don't we get some food?" He asked the girl. She nodded and let him drag her to a food stall. He ordered noodles for them both and laughed when she spit them out. "What's wrong with them?" 

"They're gross!!" Katara wailed. Her eyes were watering and she kept wiping her tongue.

"Too spicy?" he asked, already knowing the answer. He didn't know much about food from the Tribes but guessing from her reaction, it wasn't as flavorful. She nodded sadly and looked mournfully at her food. The dishes on the ship had been creative yet plain. The trip from Capital City to the Southern Water Tribe was long and they ran out of spices halfway through. Unfortunately they were unable to buy any more due to low funds. 

"Sorry to say but you're going to have to get used to it. That's just how food is here."

Katara frowned and looked around. She pointed towards a stand with baked sweets. "I want something from there Wei," she said.

"Eat your noodles first."

She made the cutest stubborn face Wei had ever seen and he couldn't help but laugh. She pouted at his laughter, which only made Wei laugh harder. 

"You're adorable Katara. But really, eat your food and I'll get you a fruit tart." He gave her a wide smile which Katara returned. With a determined expression, she slurped her noodles and drank her broth without skipping a beat.

"Wow I'm impressed," he said, noting the rising color in her cheeks and the tears leaking from her eyes. “That was really spicy you know,” he teased. Katara nodded and wiped at her eyes. Wei wanted to tease her more, but her sour expression was so heartbreakingly adorable. A deal was a deal and true to his word, Wei bought her a fruit tart.

Katara took a tentative bite of her treat and looked up at her companion. "What is this?" 

"A moon peach fruit tart."

"What's a moon peach?"

"It’s a fruit that grows on trees in the Earth Kingdom. It only blooms in winter, when the nights are long."

"Oh," she said. "Wei?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I like moon peaches.”

Wei smiled. “I do too Katara. They taste really good.” Katara nodded in agreement and took another bite of her fruit tart. They walked through the marketplace together; just enjoying each other’s company until a soldier came running towards them.

“Lord Wei!” the soldier said while giving Wei a salute. “The Fire Lord and Captain Yon Rha want you and the girl in the throne room right now!”

“Now?” Wei asked, taken aback. Was he really nearing the end of his time with Katara? He didn’t spend nearly enough time with her.

“Right now, Wei! Hurry!”

Wei nodded and grabbed Katara’s free hand. “Come on Katara, hurry!” he said before jogging off towards the castle. The soldier ran ahead of them and cleared the way of curious citizens. Katara hobbled as fast as she could, but her small legs were nothing compared to Wei’s long ones. She tightened her hold on her half-eaten fruit tart as she was nearly dragged to the castle. The Fire Nation castle was large and imposing, but Katara couldn’t see much of it as she was quickly dragged inside. Wei dragged Katara through the halls of the castle and the many rooms until they reached the throne room. The soldier gave both Wei and Katara a salute, before departing. Wei caught his breath, straightened his hair and strode into the throne room, Katara clopping behind him.

“Your humble servant Wei Taizong has arrived, Fire Lord Azulon,” Wei said as he slightly bowed his head in reverence to the Fire Lord. Katara gaped. Fire Lord Azulon was a tall and imposing figure draped in the shadows of large flame pillars. His long white hair was tied in an elaborate top-knot and his golden eyes bore into hers. Katara thought the men in the skull faces were frightening, but this man was fear itself. 

“So this is the last waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe?” asked Azulon. His voice was deep and gravelly and it rumbled all the way to her toes. Wei nodded.

“Yes, this is Katara,” Wei said, making a note of everyone who was in the room. Crown Prince Iroh and his son Lu Ten stood at the right of the Fire Lord. Lu Ten was only slightly older than Wei, and they had been playmates during their childhood. Lu Ten flashed Wei a quick grin, before composing himself and looking just as regal as his grandfather. Prince Iroh was regarding Katara with muted interest, and that look gave Wei chills. Everyone knew Prince Iroh was incredibly clever and Wei feared to know what Iroh had in store for the little Water Tribe girl.

To Azulon’s left, stood Prince Ozai, his wife Princess Ursa and his two children. Wei blanked on the name of the older son, but he knew the younger girl was named after her grandfather. Was it Asuka? Azuka? Azula? Ozai looked disinterested and the look was mirrored on his children’s faces. Ursa looked a little worried and when her eyes caught Wei’s, she gave him a kind smile. Right next to Wei was Captain Yon Rha, all cold cruelty and marble-like stoicism.

“What about her family?” Azulon asked.

“Family?” Captain Yon Rha repeated. “Why would you ask that my Lord?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” the Fire Lord sneered. “Fifty years ago I was told that every single waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe was in Fire Nation custody, but now you parade this little girl in front of me and I wonder, how did we miss her?”

Yon Rha and Wei were silent, both knowing the answer, but afraid to say it. Crown Prince Iroh broke the silence for them.

“We were not thorough enough Father,” Iroh said. “Though we captured the waterbenders, we did not address the real issue; the families creating these benders. We have been lucky so far, but if we let this girl’s family run unchecked, who’s to say that we won’t have another bender to deal with in a few years?”

Iroh’s words filled Katara with dread. She finally tore her eyes away from the Fire Lord to stare at Crown Prince Iroh. He was shorter than Wei and rounder too, but he still carried the same dangerous air that surrounded his father.

“Ah-well-” Wei stumbled.

“She has a grandmother, my Lord,” Yon Rha said eloquently. “As far as I am aware, her mother is deceased and she has no siblings.”

“And her father?” Azulon asked. 

“He tried to stop me,” Yon Rha said. “He paid for it with his life.”

Wei tried to hide his surprise under a mask of indifference. He had no idea why his superior would blatantly lie to the Fire Lord, and for a girl he didn’t care about. He was a little nervous about Katara’s wide eyed expression, but the girl looked more scared than anything else. Wei hadn’t been able to stamp the fear of the Fire Nation out of her completely.

“Good,” Fire Lord Azulon said with a dark smile. “Now what shall we do with her? We could imprison her, execute her, send her to the mines…”

Katara frowned and gripped Wei’s hand tighter. She didn’t like any of those options and she hid behind Wei’s legs. Her action did not go unnoticed.

“Honorable Grandfather,” Lu Ten begun. “Look at how afraid of us she is. This is what the people of Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom are teaching their children; to hate and fear us. With each rebellion we strike down, we give birth to a new generation of dissenters.” 

Lu Ten’s words rang clearly through the throne room and the Fire Lord nodded as he considered his grandson’s words. Not everybody was moved however. The young princess rolled her eyes in disdain and her father scowled.

“What are you saying, Lu Ten?” the Fire Lord asked. Lu Ten nodded and continued.

“We cannot continue to oppress the other nations with fear and military force. We have to show them that by siding with us, we can give them prosperity and peace. And we can start with this little girl.”

By then, everyone in the throne room was confused. “How Lu Ten?” asked the little prince before his mother hushed him harshly.

“Simple Zuko, we treat this girl like one of us.”

“Impossible,” Ozai spat. “She is nothing but a filthy Water Tribe peasant. She is not worthy of being a member of this fine and illustrious nation.”

“That’s the attitude the others hate us for, Uncle Ozai,” Lu Ten said. “And that is why they fight us. Nobody wants to be a second-class citizen. If we show the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes that they’ll be treated just like everyone else, they’ll be more willing to coexist with us.”

The Fire Lord looked intrigued with Lu Ten’s suggestion, but he was clearly not won over. “Your son makes some interesting points, but what say you Iroh?” Azulon asked. 

“Honorable Father, though we are clearly winning the war against the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom has proven to be a challenge. Their people refuse to back down, and we have seen many colonies rise against us, only to fall. Yet they try again.” Though he was short of stature, Crown Prince Iroh had the presence of twenty men. His voice was smoother than his younger brother’s and his regal demeanor was only matched by his father’s. “We have lost many good men and the lower classes are growing restless with discontent. For us to remain a strong and powerful nation, we need to conquer the other nations. I believe this girl may be the key to our utter victory.”

Azulon hung on every word of his oldest son, nodding often and looking deep in thought. “Hmm. I want to know where you are going with this Iroh. I fail to see how a girl barely out of swaddling can be the key to annihilating the other kingdoms.”

Iroh smiled, a seemingly sweet thing tinged with dangerous intelligence. “The Water Tribes are a strong people, especially the hardy ones of the South. If we imprison her like we did her kinfolk, she will escape us, either by death or breaking free. If we execute her, we will make her a martyr and we shall be monsters who would kill a defenseless little girl. The last thing we need is for the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes to unite against us and use this girl as a rallying cry,” Iroh said. “But let’s not make her one of us, since Ozai is so against it. We can send her to the Linyi family or the Kong.”

Ozai scowled as Azulon slowly nodded in agreement. “You have always been very perceptive Iroh, and it seems as though that trait has passed down to my grandson,” he praised. Iroh smiled in pride and Lu Ten beamed. “However, I do have some reservations. The Linyi and the Kong are noble families, chosen by Lord Agni himself to serve us. No matter what good she might do us, Ozai is right; she does not belong and she is not one of us.” Quickly, the pride melted off of Azulon’s face as he turned toward Yon Rha, Wei and Katara. The young girl shrunk back as Azulon’s eyes bored into her own. 

“I will do as you say Crown Prince Iroh and Prince Lu Ten. This girl shall be raised as a Fire Nation citizen, but she will become the ward of the Lugui or perhaps the Wairen-” 

“My Lord?” Wei interrupted. “Can she be released into my family’s custody? My brother Shun is interested in taking a ward, or I can do it. She needs to be in a stable environment with people she’s familiar with. She doesn’t know anybody else in the whole Capital and the Lugui can barely walk straight on solid ground. The Wairen may have been mighty once, but they have too many children to support. She’d get lost in their brood. That is why I ask you, my Lord, to release Katara into the custody of the Taizong.” 

“How dare you interrupt the Fire Lord-” Ozai seethed before Azulon cut him off. Azulon’s golden eyes showed no annoyance at being interrupted, only slight dismay at Wei’s words. “Ozai, we show the Taizong family respect, no matter how many years your junior their members happen to be,” Azulon said.

Ozai begun to retort, but a pointed look from Azulon shut Ozai’s mouth. Azulon set his sharp gaze on Wei instead, eyes steely, but not unfriendly. “Your family is very influential Wei Taizong, but I cannot honor your request. As I said before, she is a lowly Water Tribe peasant who will never belong within the noble circles of the Fire Nation. She will be sent to live with whomever I decide. Captain Yon Rha, Lieutenant Taizong, Ozai, Ursa, Zuko and Azula, you are all dismissed. Iroh, Lu Ten, stay. The child as well.” 

With a dark glare directed at Iroh, Ozai left the throne room, wife and children in tow. The young prince—Zuko, he was called—tried to stay behind and peek some more at Katara, but a quick yank from his mother sent him scurrying away. After a deep deferential bow to the Fire Lord, Captain Yon Rha left the throne room as well, fully expecting Wei to follow him. But Wei made no attempt to move. Azulon raised an eyebrow at Wei’s disobedience. “That was an order, Lieutenant Taizong,” Azulon rumbled.

“Will I be able to deliver Katara to her new family?” Wei asked. 

“No you will not. You need to go with your captain and write a report. Dismissed Lieutenant.”

“Can I have a few minutes with her then? Please?” 

“You have 5 minutes before my patience runs out,” Azulon spat. 

Wei gave the Fire Lord a short bow before facing Katara. He frowned at the terror etched on her face. “What’s happening Wei?” she asked him, eyes darting to Azulon and back to Wei. “I want to go back home.” 

“Don’t worry Katara, the Fire Lord is going to take you to your new home.” 

“Are you coming with me?” 

“…No Katara, I can’t. I don’t know when I’m going to see you again. But don’t worry!” he said quickly at the sight of her tearing up. “The Fire Lord will make sure your new family will be very nice.” 

“But I want to stay with you Wei,” she mumbled. Wei noticed that she still held her crumbling fruit tart tightly. He gently pried the fruit tart from her hand. “Katara,” he said, dropping the necklace in her parka pocket. “Keep this in your pocket and don’t look at it until you’re alone okay?” Katara nodded. 

“Now listen to me closely. Not everybody in the Fire Nation is nice-“

“I know that. They’re people-burning monsters-“

“Katara don’t interrupt me and that’s not true. Don’t listen to what your tribe told you. We aren’t all bad, but we aren’t all nice either. You see the Fire Lord? He is not nice. Crown Prince Iroh and Prince Ozai, they are not nice. I won’t be there to protect you from them. Don’t let them see any weaknesses. You have to be strong and remember that even if we can’t see each other, I’ll always be your friend. If you ever need me, just ask for Wei Taizong and I’ll come running.” Wei wondered if that was too much for a young girl to understand, but he could only hope. He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “You’ll be okay as long as you remain strong. I’ll see you soon.” 

With a muted nod and a downcast face, Katara shuffled towards the ruler and the future rulers of the Fire Nation. As he watched her go, Wei had the strange feeling that this would be the last time he would see his darling little Katara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two! I'm trying to post a chapter a week, but I don't know how that's going since chapter three hasn't even been started yet. Maybe I can hustle between shifts this week and write something good enough. I'm also thinking of making an outline because I really need one. And from here on out, OCs will be pretty important in this story, not as important as the canons of course, but still pretty vital. 
> 
> Thank you for reading this far and for listening to my ramblings! Please tell me what you think of Wei in the comments and see you next week (I hope)


	3. A New Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am super sorry about not updating. I recently moved, I had finals and work has been kicking my butt. Hopefully this chapter wasn't super terrible. Like I said before, I don't have an outline for this story and I ultimately don't know where it's going to go, so when I get stuck, I really get stuck. I'm going to try to update once every two weeks and see how that works for me.

The back of the throne room was even scarier than the room itself. A small room decked in dark red tapestries with the Fire Nation emblem on them and the room was full of sweltering heat from unseen flames. Katara felt even smaller than a baby tiger-seal as she looked into the cruel faces of the Fire Lord and his son. Prince Lu Ten gave Katara a small smile and a pat on the head. Azulon and Iroh weren’t so pleasant.

“So where were you thinking we could send her?” Azulon impassively asked his son. “Lieutenant Taizong seems very fond of the girl. Perhaps too fond.” 

“Indeed he does. The boy has a large, if misguided, heart,” Iroh said. “Which is all the more reason not to harm her, Father. If we do, I fear we may have a coup on our hands.” 

“Then we’ll take her to the Wairen. They have so many children, one more couldn’t possibly hurt. Plus, their youngest is the same age as Azula. And Zula doesn’t seem too much older than our little ward here.” With a smile, Lu Ten bent down to Katara’s height and ruffled her hair. “How old are you sweetheart?” he asked. 

With Wei’s warnings still fresh in her mind, Katara hesitated. Lu Ten reminded her a little of Wei, especially the smile. They both had big, friendly smiles that made Katara feel a little better about being away from her family. “Four. And a half,” she said, childish pride momentarily overriding her fear. Iroh chuckled good-naturedly, but Azulon was unamused. Instead of being charmed by Katara, Azulon was considering Lu Ten’s proposition. The Wairen were an influential family, mostly for intermarrying with those of higher birth and for their cunning ways in court. They tended to have many children, and the heads of the family displayed blatant favoritism towards certain children. In addition, it was clear that the women were in charge of the Wairen, something Azulon didn’t trust. Despite their status, the Wairen weren’t considered true nobility, making them a good candidate for the waterbender’s new family. 

“Perhaps the Lugui are a better choice. The girl might be stifled by all of the Wairen children running around,” Iroh spoke up after noticing his father deep in thought. 

“No,” Azulon said. “She will be taken to the Wairen and raised as one of their own. Lu Ten, take the girl to the Wairen and tell them of the arrangement. Your father and I will stay and discuss the matter further. Tell Lady Wairen that I will contact her shortly. You are dismissed.” 

Lu Ten straightened and gave his grandfather a deep respectful bow and a slightly shallower bow to his father. Then he expectantly looked at Katara, who stared back. She then turned to Iroh, who was also looking at her with amusement in his eyes, and then she looked at Azulon, who raised an eyebrow. Katara turned back to Lu Ten, who sighed. “Sweetheart,” he said. “You have to bow every time you’re excused from the presence of the Fire Lord.” 

“Why?” Katara asked, much to the shock of Lu Ten, the amusement of Iroh and the irritation of Azulon. 

“Because it’s respectful! Don’t they do anything like that in the Southern Water Tribe? Good thing you’re with us now, huh little lady? We’ll teach you how to do things the right way.” Lu Ten smiled. “Now bow.” 

With a pout at being told what to do, Katara quickly bent over in a poor imitation of a bow and stomped towards the exit. Iroh gave a big bellied laugh that only grew louder when he saw Azulon’s scowl. Lu Ten gave an apologetic look to his grandfather and hurried to catch up to Katara. When he did, she had made her way across the large throne room. Lu Ten marveled at the complete change in personality he witnessed. Before she had been quiet and looked terrified to be in his family’s presence and as soon as he said something to her, defiance had sparked in her eyes. “Little lady!” Lu Ten called out to her. 

“What?” she asked as she turned and crossed her arms. 

Lu Ten gave her the biggest smile he could muster. “You’re going the wrong way.” 

The look on Katara’s face clearly said ‘Show me the right way, you flametosser.’ Lu Ten didn’t know where the little girl had learned such vulgar language, but she did spend a few weeks on a ship with sailors. He walking towards started the exit, looking over his shoulder to see her following. He led the way, looking back every so often to see her try to catch up to him. Her fast pace couldn’t keep up with Lu Ten’s long strides and he would often stop, holding out his hand. The first time he did that, Katara looked at his hand with childish contempt before walking off. After that, Lu Ten just settled on walking next to the little girl and making sure she didn’t run off. 

After endless twists and turns and long hallways, Lu Ten and Katara exited the palace. A palanquin was waiting, with four servants kneeling in the dirt. Katara looked a little concerned at the men holding the palanquin, but Lu Ten quickly ushered her inside. The interior of the palanquin was plush and luxurious, something Lu Ten was used to, but Katara was not. She spent the entire palanquin ride fidgeting and trying not to sink too deeply into the cushions. Based on her worn parka and her discomfort with luxury, Lu Ten concluded that she must have been lower class. If she was the princess of the tribe, or even nobility, she would have been dressed more ornately, like the royals in the Northern Water Tribe. Either way, Lu Ten was sure that he and his family were giving her a better life. One filled with companions and wealth, much more than the Southern Water Tribe could offer. 

Lu Ten looked out of the curtained window and saw the Wairen estate come into view. Before the time of his great-grandfather Sozin, the Wairen were the richest family other than the ruling family. Years of war and conquest had whittled their wealth and lands to little more than nothing. Despite that, the Wairen continued to be very influential, just in a different avenue than they were historically. “Okay, little lady, we’re here,” Lu Ten said, after he called for the palanquin to stop. “We’re going to see your new family? Aren’t you excited?” He smiled. Katara didn’t share his enthusiasm and looked down. Lu Ten wondered what the girl thought over their trip. She went from sassily defiant, to reserved and maybe a little melancholy. 

“No, I want my old family back,” she mumbled. 

“But your new family will be so much better!” 

“How do you know?”

Lu Ten opened his mouth and then closed it again. She was right, but there was no way he was going to let her know that. “Just trust me okay?” he said weakly. “I’m an adult, adults know things that kids don’t. That’s why we’re adults.”

Though Katara didn’t seem too appeased, she didn’t say anything more and let Lu Ten lead her out of the palanquin and into the Wairen estate. Neither talked on the short walk towards the home the Wairen lived. Katara was taken aback at the size of the house, since it was much bigger than any hut in the South Pole. Lu Ten wasn’t as impressed. He looked at the small building with dismay. It could fit in Zuko’s nursery. Lu Ten knocked on the plain wooden door and waited. Lu Ten heard some rustling, banging and what sounded like a shrill scream before the door whipped open.

Lady Tai Wairen of the Wairen family narrowed her eyes at Lu Ten and his small companion. Lu Ten fidgeted a little before straightening his posture. Lady Wairen’s eyes snapped to him, then moved inspect Katara. The little girl stared right back, with no sense of decorum or respect at all. Lady Wairen was a short woman, but her harshly lined face and narrow grey eyes made up for her lack of height. Lu Ten also couldn’t help noticing that the Lady was taller than his father. 

“Why has the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation come pounding at my door?” Lady Wairen asked in a gravelly voice.

“This is the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. She’s your new granddaughter,” Lu Ten said nervously. Lady Wairen stayed silent as her attention turned back to Katara. Despite her advanced age, Lu Ten was very nervous. The Lady looked dangerous, quite unlike her son, who was round and full of smiles. 

“Why would I need another granddaughter? And from the water tribes to boot! If you really wanted to gain my favor, Prince, you would have brought me a grandson!” 

“Lady Wairen, that is all I can tell you for now. The great and illustrious Fire Lord Azulon has promised to contact you with more information later.” 

Lady Wairen hmphed and shook her head. “Very well then,” she said, her hand outstretched towards Katara. “Come child, if you are to be my new granddaughter, you need to have a decent pair of clothes.” 

With only a little hesitation, Katara took the old woman’s hand and entered the Wairen estate without looking back at Lu Ten once. He felt a little hurt that he didn’t even warrant a backwards gaze, even though she nearly refused to be parted from Wei. “You look like my Gran-Gran,” Lu Ten heard Katara say. He couldn’t hear what Lady Wairen said afterwards, but he heard Katara’s voice as clear as day. “Yeah, she has grey hair and wrinkles just like you do!!”

Lu Ten shook his head. What a cute little peasant.

* * *

* * *

* * *

Hakoda had never been so angry before. He had been betrayed by someone he thought he could trust. “Tanouk, can you explain yourself? Can you possibly justify selling our Tribe’s secrets? Can you justify selling out my daughter?” Hakoda spat out with anger and pain dripping from every word. Tanouk was a tall and stocky man, rugged and riddled with scars from years of dangerous hunts. He was a pillar of the community and a beloved father and husband. Hakoda didn’t understand. 

“I know she was your daughter Hakoda, but think. She was a danger to the tribe, a danger to all of us,” Tanouk said in the face of Hakoda’s vehemence. “One temper tantrum and the very foundations of the tribe would have been compromised. In case you haven’t realized Hakoda, we live on a hunk of ice.” 

“She is four years old, Tanouk! What could she possibly do?” 

Tanouk scoffed. “She’s four now, but soon. I know your family Hakoda. You come from a long line of strong benders. That girl was going to be strong and strong benders attract attention. What were you going to do? Go to the North and ask for a teacher? Right, because after all these years the North, who have left us for dead, will come running to teach your daughter how to waterbend. Is that really what you thought would happen Hakoda?”

Tanouk’s grey eyes bore into Hakoda’s, trying to make him see reason, but to no avail. “Hakoda,” Tanouk said sadly. “I was protecting the tribe. Katara was going to be strong, and she would have brought the Fire Nation here sooner or later. You know that.” 

“Tanouk, for your betrayal of the tribe, you shall be exiled, cast out, never to return. You will be erased from your clan and your son will never know your name,” Hakoda said coolly. “It will be as if you never existed.” 

Tanouk looked as if he would protest or explain himself some more, but he didn’t say a word. Instead, he let his eyes do the talking for him. Hakoda saw shock, anger, betrayal and disappointment. “I may have told the Fire Nation about Katara, but I wasn’t the one who gave her away.” With those words, Tanouk went off towards his hut, to tell his wife about his banishment. Hakoda gave a deep and wary sigh. Though he was chief, he normally didn’t make such harsh decisions. The tribe was a huge family who looked out for each other and only had the well-being for everyone on their minds. Or so he thought. Tanouk was someone Hakoda had grown up with. Their fathers were best friends and Tanouk was known as a strong and dependable warrior. 

Hakoda felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see who it was. Bato’s downcast face did nothing for Hakoda’s mood. He was quite upset with Bato still, despite Katara being gone for weeks. But, though Bato was not Hakoda’s oldest friend, Bato was his dearest. It would take some more time, but Hakoda knew he would forgive Bato eventually.

“Kya wants to see you,” Bato said, knowing his friend well enough to not comment on what he witnessed with Tanouk. Hakoda stood on the ice for a few more seconds before heading back to his own hut and his remaining family. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Even though the prince said that she’d like her new family better, Katara wasn’t so sure she would. Lady Tai showed Katara her new room, which included a mirror, a drawer and four cots. She’d have to share her room with three other girls! 

“I don’t want to share with other girls,” she said petulantly. 

“Your new sisters you mean,” Lady Tai said. Katara didn’t say anything, she just pouted. Lady Tai rolled her eyes and led Katara towards the dining area, where the Wairen family was eating their lunch. Katara gave everyone a wide-eyed stare. How could eleven people fit at one table? And why did everyone look the same? All seven of the girls had wide grey eyes, round faces and brown hair. Were these the girls she had to share with? And the adults all had grey eyes too, with brown hair and round heads. Katara looked back at Lady Tai and noted that she was the only one who looked any different, mostly because her hair was grey and her eyes were narrow, like Wei’s and the prince’s. In her surprise, Katara failed to notice the eleven pairs of eyes upon her. Then, all at once, seven pairs of feet ran towards her. 

“ARE YOU OUR NEW SISTER!?” 

“Where did you come from?” 

“Who are you?” 

“You’re so cute!” 

“Can she stay in my room?” 

“Look what I can do!” 

“What’s your name?” 

“I THOUGHT YOU SAID MY NEW SISTER WOULD BE A BABY!” 

“Why are you wearing that?” 

“Are those hair loopies?” 

“What pretty blue eyes.” 

“Look, look!!!” 

“Alright, ENOUGH!” Lady Tai yelled. The seven identical girls immediately stepped back from a trembling and teary eyed Katara. Once they saw the state Katara was in, they turned on each other instead. 

“Look at what you did Ju Lee!” 

“I didn’t do anything! Da Lee made her cry with her ugly face!” 

“Did you look?” 

“GIRLS!” This time when Tai yelled, the girls quieted down and they stayed quiet. Now that Katara could see them all properly, she saw that they weren’t all identical as she originally thought. They were all different heights and some had narrower faces, some had structured noses, but they all had wide smiles. Lady Tai looked at her grandchildren, her children and her daughter’s husband in turn. “Now, I know this is all very sudden, but we have recently been blessed with another addition to our family. This is…girl what is your name?” 

Katara looked startled. She thought Lady Tai already knew her name, since she was going to be her new grandmother. “Um, my name is Katara,” she said softly. Lady Tai raised a thin eyebrow and hmphed. 

“Her name is Katara. Tien, she will be your new daughter. Girls, she will be your new sister and you will treat her as such.” 

“But Granny Tai! She doesn’t look like us at all!” one of the seven girls said. 

“That doesn’t matter. She is still your sister. Now go and help her find some suitable clothes while I talk to your parents.” In the Wairen family, Tai’s word was law so the seven girls rushed over, took Katara’s arm and ran towards the back of the house. Tai noticed the scared look on Katara’s face, but ignored it. The girl probably wasn’t used being around so many girls at once. Lady Tai turned back to her children and her daughter’s husband. “We need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More notes, yay~ I didn't want to gunk up the beginning and have you sick of me before the chapter even started. Three guesses at who the Wairen family is and the first two don't count. We went back to the Southern Water Tribe for a little bit to see how Hakoda is doing. Tanouk is supposed to bring up some very good points and I hope he doesn't come off as too much as a jerk. Even though Tanouk was the betrayer, he's only doing what he thinks is best for the tribe. Sacrificing one for the good of the many, which isn't really a Water Tribe ideal, but Tanouk is a pragmatic man and he hasn't forgotten that they live in a time of war. So I hope I got that across well. Tell me what you guys think and hopefully I'll see you guys in two weeks.
> 
>  
> 
> I also don't know how to do line breaks.


	4. The Lady's Hut

He ran.

He didn’t know to where, but he had to get away. He couldn’t stay there anymore. How could he? It was like nothing had ever happened. How could they be so happy with Katara gone? How could they dare try to replace her? 

Mom and Dad looked so happy when they told him. “Sokka, you’re going to be a big brother!” But he was already a big brother. He didn’t want another sister, he wanted Katara back! With that thought, Sokka stopped blindly running. Once he stopped, he noticed that he didn’t run as far as he thought. In fact, he barely made it to the outskirts of the village. A plan beginning to form in his mind, Sokka started running to the docks. A few people were milled about, mostly women gossiping with each other, but that was all. With the raid still fresh in everybody’s mind and the banishment of Tanouk only a few days past, the village was subdued. There weren’t many people to see Sokka running towards the docks, and those that were out, but nobody paid him any mind. It was common to see Sokka running around and playing warriors and tiger-seals with his sister. Maybe the women thought he was getting used to playing by himself. But Sokka had a plan that was becoming more solid with every step he took. He wasn’t going to be a big brother again, he was going to get his little sister back. 

The docks were the only structures still grand in the Southern Water Tribe. They were made out of a mixture of stone and ice, with elegantly and painstakingly carved symbols with archaic meanings that Sokka could only guess at. Sokka headed towards the third dock, where the fishing boats were located. Sokka remembered them from a fishing trip with Masato once. Katara was so jealous at all of Sokka’s catches and she cried when she couldn’t go. Fishing was a job for men after all. Sokka recognized Masato’s fishing boat and headed towards it. He clumsily untied the rope tying the boat to the dock and jumped into the swaying boat. He hefted the oar and paddled—very slowly—into the open sea. Sokka was sure that with enough paddling, he’d get to the Fire Nation in no time. The oar was heavy, but Sokka was going to be a strong warrior. He paddled away from the tribe, with small waves rocking the boat along the way. The icy shore got smaller and smaller as Sokka paddled farther away. Soon, carrying the oar became too heavy for his tired arms to lift and he stopped paddling. The waves kept pushing the boat farther and farther. The gentle swaying of the boat combined with his tired body lulled him into a deep sleep. 

When Sokka woke up, the sky was dark and the stars were shining brightly. Disoriented and shivering slightly from the cold, Sokka shot up and looked around. All he saw was the inky water and choppy waves hitting the hull of the ship. He frowned a little, but picked up the oar and started paddling again. Since he was already this far, he had to continue. The Fire Nation couldn’t be too much further. As the night wore on, the sky got darker and the air got colder. Sokka shivered, despite his warm parka. The air was getting frigid, much colder than at the tribe. He wanted to keep going, but he was so cold. He should have brought some furs or maybe one of Gran-Gran’s blankets. Sokka looked at the sky again and saw the full moon shining bright in the sky. Seeing the moon all on its lonesome reminded Sokka of himself. He was all alone, in the middle of the ocean and nobody knew where he was. 

“Mom?” Sokka asked, hoping against hope that she could hear him. “MOM!” Sokka yelled. “DAD! GRAN-GRAN! BATO!” No matter how loud he yelled, nobody answered. There were no sounds except the waves lapping on the boat’s hull and his own ragged breathing. Sokka soon started to panic. “MOM!! MOM!! KATARA! SOMEBODY! Anybody…” Nobody could hear him. No matter where he looked, he was the only person around for miles. Sokka put down the oar as his vision started to blur. Hot tears warmed his chilled cheeks and Sokka started to sob. 

When Sokka woke up, he was warm. He didn’t remember falling asleep, but the dried tear tracks on his face suggested he cried himself to sleep. He sat up and a fur slipped down to his knees. Sokka didn’t remember Masato’s boat having any furs. He looked around and saw he was in a hut made of ice. On the walls were dark colored furs and etchings of a large fish-looking monster. The fish thing looked a little scary. “Good, you are awake,” said a voice. Sokka turned towards the doorway and saw the most beautiful lady he had ever seen. Her skin was dark, like his and her eyes were blue just like Katara’s. Her hair was inky, long and curly and her smile reminded Sokka of his mom. “I found you drifting in your fishing boat. Such a large boat for a wee one,” she said with amusement in her eyes. “What were you doing in that boat all alone?” 

Sokka frowned. His mom told him to never speak to strangers without her or dad present, but the lady looked nice enough and she was super pretty. Her furs were so warm too. “I’m going to the Fire Nation. I’m gonna get my sister back so Mom won’t have another baby,” he said. The lady looked surprised before her face dissolved into a smile. “You must be very brave for one so young,” she said as she approached Sokka. He grinned. No-one had ever called him brave before, except for the man who took Katara away, but he didn’t count. He felt really good because this super nice and pretty lady thought he was brave. “She’s my sister so I have to save her. It’s my job as a big brother,” he puffed out his chest. “I have to be the man because Dad and Bato aren’t doing anything.” 

“Indeed,” the woman said. “Your sister is very lucky to have you, but enough of this. As you are now awake, you must be hungry. I have made a stew for you.” At the mention of food, Sokka’s stomach grumbled loudly. The lady smiled wider as Sokka felt his face heat up. He let the lady help him off the pile of furs and lead him to the front of the hut. The whole hut looked a lot smaller than the one he shared with his family. The front room contained a few sitting furs and a pit that had a small fire and a pot that contained bubbling stew. The smell made Sokka’s mouth water and his stomach clenched in hunger. He plopped on one of the furs as the lady produced a bowl and spoon out of seemingly nowhere. She scooped a hearty helping for him and gave him the bowl. As soon as the bowl touched Sokka’s hands, he started shoveling the stew into his mouth. It tasted just as delicious as it smelled, with chunks of tender meat and something soft and meaty-tasting. 

Halfway into his first bowl, he realized that the lady didn’t get any and she was just watching him eat. “Do you want some?” he asked, feeling a little silly at offering the lady her own food. Maybe he was using the only bowl and spoon she had. She shook her head, smiling sadly. “No, I am fine. It is just…you remind me of my sons.” 

“Oh,” Sokka said. “You have kids?” 

“Yes, I had many children once, but they are all gone now.” 

“Did the Fire Nation take them away?” The lady nodded at his question. “Then I’ll save them too!” Sokka declared. The lady chuckled.

“You are a very brave boy, little one, but it is too late. The children I have left are beyond your reach,” she said. Sokka looked down and frowned. It wasn’t fair. The Fire Nation shouldn’t be able to take sisters away from their brothers and children from their mothers. And now out of all of the pretty lady’s children, she only had a few left. “I’ll get back on the boat and sail to the Fire Nation! I’m not far, I was sailing for a long time,” Sokka insisted. The lady looked at her hands for a moment, before fixing Sokka with an intense look. 

“Do you want to help me get my children back?” she asked? Sokka nodded. “Then I want you to grow up. Grow up and be strong for your mother because she will look to you. Be strong for your father, so he can use your strength to carry his feet forward. Be strong for your brother, who will need you to protect him.” The lady’s intense stare softened as a gentle smile overtook her face and she laid her hand over Sokka’s smaller one. “Grow up and be strong for your sister. She will need you to guide her when you save her, but do not fret my son,” she said at Sokka’s bewildered look. “Finish your stew, you are still a child yet.” Sokka nodded and did as he was told, he even got seconds. Once he was finished, the lady took all of the dishes and the stew and stashed them away. Sokka yawned loudly and let the lady guide him back to the room he woke up in. It seemed to have gotten even warmer and he was starting to feel very drowsy. “You rest wee one,” the lady said, tucking him into the furs. Sokka drowsily smiled at the lady, before looking a little apprehensive. “Um, can you sing me a song so I can go to sleep? Katara gets bad dreams, so Mom always sings to her and I always overhear, but she doesn’t anymore.” The lady smiled and brushed a strand of hair out of his face. Up close, the lady looked even prettier and in the dark, her blue eyes looked like they were glowing. “I will sing you a song,” she said. The lady had a really pretty voice, low and husky, unlike his mother’s smooth tones. She sounded like a bottomless, fathomless abyss deep in the ocean. He didn’t understand what she saying, but he let the sound of her voice wash over him and lull him to sleep. 

Sokka was shaken awake and the only thing he registered was the freezing cold. He felt snow slowly melting inside his parka. He looked up and saw wild blue-grey eyes boring into his own. “Oh thank Tui, thank Tui,” came the relieved voice that Sokka vaguely recognized. The shaking stopped and he was pulled tightly to the body above him. “You gave us such a scare Sokka! Where were you? You didn’t come home for dinner and we looked and Masato’s boat was missing! I can’t—“ 

“Hakoda, he’s freezing. Let’s get him home before he gets frostbite. Kya would be happy to see him,” said another voice. The strong arms lifted him and it felt like he was moving. His eyes blankly looked at the sky, it was white and he could see small flakes of snow. Sokka wondered about the pretty lady in her lonely hut before he fell back asleep. 

When Sokka woke up again, he was starving. He tumbled out of the pile of furs he was wrapped in and headed towards the kitchen. When he arrived, he saw his mother, Gran-Gran, Dad and Bato. His mother flew up and gathered Sokka into her arms. “Where were you? We looked and you were gone and I…” Kya said before bursting into tears. “How could you do that to us?” Hakoda exploded. “You just up and leave without telling anybody! Did you even think about us!?” 

“Hakoda, let the boy speak. I know Sokka will explain everything to us, won’t he?” Gran-Gran said smoothly. “Kya, you’re smothering the poor boy!” Kya nodded and took a seat next to Hakoda. Her face was wet with tears and Hakoda held her hand tightly. Sokka fidgeted as eight eyes fell on him, awaiting his explanation. He kept silent, he didn’t want to talk about his plan. Now, in the face of his mother’s tears and his father’s anger, Sokka thought his idea seemed really silly. “Well?” Hakoda asked harshly. Sokka sighed and looked at his feet.

“I wanted to save Katara from the Fire Nation,” he mumbled.

“I can’t hear you!” Hakoda yelled.

“I said I wanted to save Katara from the Fire Nation!” he said loudly. “I took Masato’s boat and I was going to sail to the Fire Nation and bring Katara back with me so Mom wouldn’t have another baby.” Sokka looked at the adults and flushed at the incredulity on their faces. He didn’t like that. 

“That’s not how it works, Sokka,” Bato spoke up for the first time. “You can’t—“ 

“But why not!? You all act like Katara never existed!” Sokka cried. “None of you guys are doing anything! You didn’t do anything! You just let them take her away!” At Sokka’s words, Kya started to sob anew. The men looked ashamed of themselves, but Kanna held her head up high. Her grandson’s words rung true, but he was a child and he didn’t understand how the world worked. 

“The penguin otter doesn’t go up against the elephant squid when it knows that it is colossally outmatched, Sokka. Our tribe can do nothing against the Fire Nation, and neither can you,” Kanna said coolly. Sokka bristled. “The pretty lady said I could do it!” he shouted. That made the adults pause. Kanna’s eyes widened, Bato’s jaw dropped, Hakoda look shocked and angry at the same time, and Kya’s sobs gradually stopped. 

“What pretty lady?” she asked in her watery voice. “Who did you see?” 

“Tell us everything Sokka!” Bato said loudly. 

“I paddled for a really long time and then I fell asleep. When I woke up I paddled some more but I was cold and alone and it was dark. The pretty lady saved me. I woke up in her hut and she fed me some stew and told me about her kids.” Sokka didn’t understand why everyone was so interested in the pretty lady. She was really nice and her stew was really good. 

“What did she look like?” Kanna asked.

“She had blue eyes and dark skin like us and her hair was black. She was really pretty and nice and she made good stew,” Sokka mumbled. Kanna looked as if she was deep in thought. Hakoda noticed his mother’s thoughtful expression and turned to Sokka. “Sokka, why don’t you go to Masato and apologize for taking his boat,” he said sternly. His voice quickly softened as he spoke to his wife. “Kya, why don’t you go with him?”

Kya nodded and stood. “Come on Sokka, you have a lot to explain to Masato,” she said softly, stretching out her hand for her son to take. Sokka looked at his mother with an unreadable expression, before walking towards the parkas. Pain flickered across Kya’s face at her son’s rejection, but she steeled herself and followed him. Soon enough, the both of them had left the hut, leaving Kanna, Hakoda and Bato alone. 

“Well?” Hakoda asked his two companions. 

“Sokka’s story does not make any sense. The way he talks, it seems he was only gone for a day or two, but he was gone for a week! We were going to begin his funeral rites!” Bato anguished. “And who is this ‘pretty lady’? The closest inhabited island is Kyoshi Island and they don’t look like the lady Sokka described.” 

“He couldn’t have reached Kyoshi Island anyway, it’s a two week voyage, and Sokka was sailing the wrong way,” Hakoda said. 

“I think Sokka was transported to the spirit world,” Kanna said suddenly. Hakoda and Bato looked at Kanna with wide eyes. “I think he must have encountered the spirt of someone who suffered during the raids. Plenty of mothers lost their children when the Fire Nation took the waterbenders. She could have died trying to defend her children or maybe she took her own life after the Fire Nation took her children away.” 

“So my son was spirited away by a lonely childless ghost?” Hakoda asked. He suddenly looked very old and very weary. Grey hairs that were not present before the raid peppered his scalp and there were wrinkles at the corners of his mouth. Kanna frowned at the stress her son was under. Their family felt empty without Katara, but Kanna thought they were slowly healing. This debacle with Sokka only proved to her that they had a long way to go. 

“We should be grateful that the spirt gave him back to us, not to mention that he’s alive. Spirts do not give up those in their grasp so easily,” Kanna said. “He’s been touched by a spirt, that marks him apart from the rest of us. My grandmother used to say that those touched by a spirt had more spirts drawn to them, so let’s keep Sokka close to us.” The men nodded. They couldn’t let something like this happen again, not after losing Katara. Hakoda knew that he had to make Sokka see that the new baby was not a replacement for his lost sister. He just didn’t know how.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how I said I was going to have this chapter done in two weeks? Well I lied. But I finally was hit with some inspiration and I managed to write this beauty of a chapter in over a month! So far this story has been switching between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe in order to see how both Katara and the rest of her family is doing, but I've switched it up a bit. Instead of making Katara the main character (and her family as major supporting characters), I've switched over to Sokka. From now on, we'll follow Sokka and his adventures.
> 
> One of the reasons why this chapter took so long was because I spent forever trying to figure out what exactly Katara was doing in the Fire Nation. I looked over some basic notes that I had and I noticed that I was very blatantly taking ideas from other stories I had read and I didn't want to do that. I wanted to come up with my own ideas and they just weren't flowing when they came to Katara. Sokka came to me a lot easier and once I started focusing more on him, the more I wrote and the more muse I had. I personally like this chapter a lot and I hope you all too. Hopefully I didn't make Kya a little too weepy, but I think losing her daughter and then almost losing her son while being pregnant is a lot for someone to take in a short period of time.


	5. Baby and Me

“Is that what I looked like when I was a baby?” Sokka asked, looking at the small bundle cradled in his mother’s arms. The baby was swaddled in multiple blankets, making the baby look even smaller. Sokka’s new sibling was sleeping, which was a welcome change from the screeching earlier. Instead of answering him, Kya hmmed at Sokka and continued gazing at the small person she just birthed.

Nulia, on the other hand, had heard Sokka’s question. She had helped Kanna deliver Kya’s previous children and now she helped bring newest addition of the Chief’s family into the world. Despite her twenty-six years of life, Nulia was unmarried and childless, a rarity in the Southern Water Tribe. She was labelled strange by the older women, but nobody could deny her talent as a midwife. Peering over to look into the baby’s face, Nulia giggled. “You had a much bigger head when you were born, Sokka.” 

Sokka frowned at Nulia, but her blue eyes just twinkled at him as she continued to clean up. He looked up at his mother’s face and the faces of Gran-Gran and Nulia. Despite the content look on their faces, they all looked so tired. Sokka thought he probably looked tired too. He felt tired. He had to help prepare everything for the baby and he spent hours getting blankets, clean water and clean towels. His hand was still sore from when his mom clutched it and his ears were still ringing from her screaming. Then another question popped into his head. “What did Katara look like when she was a baby?” Sokka asked. The room fell silent. Even Nulia’s good mood dissipated.

“Sokka,” Gran-Gran said tiredly. “Why don’t you go get your father so he can see the baby too?” Sokka stared at the sleeping baby some more before, running out of their hut. Earlier, Gran-Gran had Hakoda and Bato kicked out because a “birthing was a job for women and women only.” Sokka wished he was kicked out too. A birthing chamber was no place for a little boy. 

Sokka found his dad sitting in Bato’s hut. He was sitting and just staring at the wall with a sad look on his face. Only the two of them were there, Bato was nowhere to be found, and the hut rang with silence. “Dad?” Sokka broke the silence in the still hut. Hakoda turned to face his son with a smile that did not reach his eyes. 

“Hi Sokka. I’m guessing your grandmother has sent you to get me,” he said softly. 

“Yeah, the baby’s here.” 

“I see,” Hakoda said. “I guess I should go see it then.” 

“Yeah. Nulia says I had a bigger head when I was a baby, but my head isn’t big at all.” 

Hakoda laughed at that. “No, she is right. You did have a big head when you were a baby. A big head with a normal sized face! You were so cute when you little…the both of you were.”

Sokka didn’t know what to say. Ever since he tried to sail to the Fire Nation, the village stopped talking about Katara. They acted as if she didn’t exist, as if Sokka was an only child and had always been so. It reminded Sokka of when his Gramp-Gramp went back to the ocean. They stopped talking about him and soon Sokka almost forgot that he had a Gramp-Gramp. And if Sokka really, really thought about it, he could remember Bato with someone else, a pretty lady with grey eyes and black hair. But maybe Sokka made her up. 

“Don’t you want to see the baby Dad?” Sokka asked.

Hakoda stayed silent for a long time. “Yes. Come on Sokka.” He stood up and exited the hut, with Sokka trailing behind him. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Being a big brother was pretty fun. Since he and Katara were so close in age, he didn’t remember much from when she was a baby. For some reason, he didn’t think she was as energetic as his baby brother was. 

“Say ‘Mama,’” Kya said to the babbling baby. He looked at his mother with wide blue eyes, and then tried to crawl away. Kya laughed and grabbed him before he got away. “Come on Touya, say ‘Mama.’ Mama!” 

Sokka watched as his mother’s attempts to teach Touya to speak came to no avail. Whenever she tried to get him to say something, Touya would laugh, try to get away or chew on his fingers. His chubby legs kicked out and he had a toothy grin on his face. Sokka noticed how Kya’s face brightened as she looked at her second son. Both Kya and Hakoda had been fawning over Touya ever since he was born, usually leaving Sokka to his own devices. He really didn’t mind, but he did feel like he was being forgotten. Just like how everyone forgot Katara. But Sokka didn’t forget. He would never forget Katara and he would save her from the Fire Nation. Even if Sokka was forgotten by his family, he wasn’t forgotten by everybody else. After Masato forgave him for taking the fishing boat, he taught Sokka how to use fishing spears, harpoons and other things an almost seven year old boy should not be playing with. But with Hakoda busy with hunting, trying to facilitate a relationship with the Northern Water Tribe, and with Touya, there was nobody left to teach him. And Nulia had a habit of dragging Sokka from his hut and teaching him ‘womanly duties’ in secret.

“You need someone to mend your socks and wash your underclothes Sokka,” Nulia said. “Your mother is too busy with Touya to help much with the house duties and your grandmother is too old to take care of her hut and your hut, so you have to pick up the slack, Sokka. If your sister were here, she would help, but it’s only you.” And so Nulia taught Sokka how to sew holes, scrub clothes, gut fish, along with other tasks. The older men liked to tease Sokka for ‘working his charm’ on Nulia, but he ignored them. He needed to know all he could before going to the Fire Nation. Now Sokka knew that he needed more than a fishing boat and an oar to get to the Fire Nation. He didn’t tell his parents about his plan. They still believed the pretty lady was a ghost who wanted to kill him. Sokka didn’t tell Masato either, because the man would get worried and tell Hakoda. But Sokka did tell Nulia, which made her nervous, but she felt better when he promised he’d wait until he was a man. Though she didn’t like to, Nulia was the only one who answered Sokka’s questions about Katara. Sokka liked her for that. 

“Sokka,” Kya said, snapping the young boy out of his thoughts. “Do you want to play with your brother?” She looked at her older son with hopeful eyes and a hesitant smile. Said son wanted to say no and leave to catch fish with Masato until the moon rose. But when Touya looked at Sokka with huge blue eyes that were so heartbreakingly familiar, Sokka couldn’t say no. He nodded and saw Kya’s face lit up as she brought Touya over. “I want him to say ‘mama’ but he doesn’t seem to want to,” Kya sighed. “I know he can talk, I can see it in his eyes.” 

Sokka glanced at his mother, but turned his attention back to Touya. The child was trying to grab Sokka’s fingers and giggling when Sokka moved them just out of reach. “He’s not as talkative as you were,” Kya continued. “When you were little, you would just go on and on and on, making as much noised as possible. The first word I ever heard you say was ‘meat’,” Kya chuckled. “You were your father’s son all right.” Sokka didn’t say anything; he didn’t look up at his mother at all. Instead, he let Touya grab a finger. 

“Can you say Sokka, Touya? Say Sokka,” Sokka said, wincing when Touya started chewing on his finger. How could a baby with barely any teeth bite so hard? 

“I don’t think he can say your name, Sokka. It might be a little too hard for him to pronounce. ‘Mama’ is much easier,” Kya said. “You were such a smart baby. You were walking and talking before all the other children. Touya seems to be developing a little later than the other children, but he’ll be okay.” 

“Was Katara smarter than the other kids? What was her first word?” Sokka asked. He noticed the stiffening of his mother’s back and the heavy silence that fell upon the room. Maybe she would actually answer him this time. Maybe she would stop pretending Katara didn’t exist. Maybe she would stop using Touya to fill the hole in their family. 

But she didn’t say anything. Sokka felt the familiar sensation of disappointment fill his chest. He should have gone fishing with Masato. “Sahka.” At least Masato doesn’t ignore his questions. Or maybe Nulia, she talks to him about Katara. “Sahka.” She doesn’t pretend Katara’s dead, she doesn’t pretend not to hear him, she doesn’t- “SAHKA!” A loud smack resounded throughout the hut and Sokka’s eyes narrowed.

“Ow Touya! That hurt!” he scowled, rubbing his cheek. Touya giggled and started smacking Sokka’s hand. “Sahka, Sahka,” the baby babbled and grinned. Sokka smiled back. His name wasn’t hard to pronounce at all. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

“What’s snow?”

Sokka stopped padding the snow blocks he was creating and sighed in thinly veiled annoyance. “Really? There’s snow all around you and you’re telling me you don’t know what snow is?” Touya looked unfazed at Sokka’s outburst and shook his head. 

“Nope. What’s snow?” Touya asked again. Sokka rolled his eyes. All he wanted to do was make a decent watchtower, by himself, with nobody around him. But of course, Touya had to tag along where he wasn’t wanted. But that wasn’t the worst part. Ever since Touya learned how to talk, he never stopped talking, and always about stupid stuff. Why would Sokka know why the ocean was blue? He was only ten! And Kya and Hakoda only encouraged Touya’s incessant talking. They thought the two boys were ‘bonding’. 

“Snow is ice or something that falls from the sky,” Sokka said. The annoyance in his voice was startlingly clear for anybody who wasn’t Touya. 

“Oh. Why does snow fall from the sky?” And of course, Touya had another question up his fur-lined sleeves. “I don’t know,” Sokka said. “I guess it’s because sky ice is too heavy to fly.” 

Touya’s eyes widened. “Wow, really!?” The six year old looked at his older brother with admiration. “Wow, Sokka, you’re so smart!” Though Sokka was annoyed, he felt a warm tingly feeling in his chest. Touya was annoying, but the kid knew how to get into Sokka’s good graces. 

“Hey Sokka?” Touya asked, looking a apprehensive. Sokka raised an eyebrow, but continued to pack snow for his snow blocks. Touya looked at the finished blocks and started packing up snow to create his own. “What’s the Fire Nation?” Sokka’s hands stilled on the packed snow as memories all came rushing back and his eyes blurred. 

“Are you crying? Are you okay? Did you stub your toe?” Touya looked at his distraught brother frantically. Sokka never cried as far as Touya knew. Sokka was big and strong and knew how to do everything. When Kya couldn’t, Sokka would sew the holes in Touya’s pants, make a cooking fire, hunt and fish. Sokka was Touya’s hero, even more than Hakoda was. 

“No, I didn’t stub my toe, I’m okay,” Sokka said. He didn’t want to, but he was going to tell Touya about the Fire Nation. He needed to know about the monsters who devastated their village and who took away important people. “The Fire Nation is a country across the ocean that—.” 

“There are other places besides the South Pole!?” 

“Yes, Touya. There’s a North Pole, the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation.” Of course, the only reason Sokka knew all this was because Masato told him. The other adults didn’t seem to want the children to know about life outside of the tribe. “The Fire Nation is a country across the ocean that’s full of monsters.” 

“Monsters?”

“Monsters who look like people Touya. One hundred years ago, they killed all of the Air Nomads, including the Avatar, and they started a world-wide war. They attacked the Earth Kingdom next and after that, they attacked us. Our village used to be as great as the Northern Water Tribe,” Sokka said, quoting what he heard from Masato. “But the Fire Nation took away all of our waterbenders and burnt our village to the ground. “

Shock was clearly written on Touya’s face. He had no idea. The small pitiful village that Touya had grown up was all he knew and to know that there was a whole world, outside of the large hunk of ice he called home, was mindboggling. But he had to know something. “Why? Why are they causing a war Sokka?” Touya asked. Sokka shook his head.

“Because they’re evil, I guess. I don’t know,” Sokka huffed. Touya nodded, accepting Sokka’s expertise. The two lapsed into silence as they continued to make snow blocks. But no matter how smooth he patted the blocks, Touya felt that something was wrong.

“Hey Sokka?” 

“Yes?” 

“When were all the waterbenders taken away?” 

Sokka was silent. Silent like the way Kya was whenever Touya asked a question she didn’t like. Sokka was silent for so long that Touya thought he ignored the question. Touya pouted, Sokka was the only one who answered Touya’s questions. Everybody else told him that he was too young to know anything and then acted like he was stupid. Touya was a lot smarter than people thought he was.

“A long time ago. Most of the waterbenders were taken before we were born,” Sokka said. 

“But why are you so sad Sokka?” Touya asked. “If the waterbenders were taken a long time ago, then why are you sad now? What have they done? They didn’t do anything.” 

Sokka frowned deeply, making him look a lot older then twelve years old. “You have no idea what the Fire Nation has done to me, personally,” Sokka said. “If you’re going to be out here, then help me finish making this watch tower.” Sokka turned back to his bricks and started piling one on top of each other. Touya helped.

* * *

* * *

* * *

“Sokka! Sokka!” Touya bounced into the hut, breezing past his cooking mother and stitching grandmother. Kanna chuckled at her young grandson. It warmed her heart to see Touya still smiling and carrying on, especially after the men left to go fight in the war. She was more worried about Sokka. Ever since the last raid, he had become more and more reserved. He was no longer the little boy who would beg for seal jerky and crack jokes about snow. He was serious, too serious, Kanna thought, and distant from his family. She noticed the coldness Sokka showed his mother and the indifference to his father. She noticed how little time he spent at home. She noticed how he didn’t care when the men left, or even that his ice-dodging would be postponed until after the men returned. Kanna was worried about her grandson. She voiced her concerns to her daughter-in-law, but Kya would have none of it. All Kya saw was her older son maturing and as long as he continued to spend time with Touya, she was happy. “Bye Mom, bye Gran-Gran!” Touya yelled, dragging Sokka behind him. Kanna couldn’t help chuckling at the wary resignation on her older grandson’s face. She hoped that maybe Touya could fill the void in Sokka’s heart, just like the energetic boy had filled the rest of the family’s. Touya really was a blessing for their family. 

“Is it really necessary for you to drag me out the hut?” Sokka asked as they exited the hut. 

“I want to go penguin sledding!” Touya yelled, loud enough for Kya, Kanna and the rest of the village to hear. 

Sokka rolled his eyes. “I’m too old to go penguin sledding.” 

“You’re never too old to go penguin sledding! Stop saying no, just come on Sokka!” Touya said. He continued to drag Sokka into the empty expanse of ice that surrounded their small village, away from where the penguins were. Sokka raised an eyebrow, but he only looked back to the pitiful snow wall that surrounded his village. Sokka inwardly sighed. At least his watchtower looked good. After the village was nothing more than a small speck of blue against a white backdrop, Touya stopped and turned to face Sokka. Gone was the bright smile from before, replaced by a deep frown and worry clearly written on his face. Touya looked as if he was going to cry. “What’s wrong?” Sokka asked. Just a few minutes ago, his little brother was bouncing off the ice, and now he was so subdued. 

“Sokka…I’m scared,” Touya whispered. 

“Scared of what?” Sokka frowned, still confused. 

“The Fire Nation!”

“You should be, but I don’t think they’re gonna come back, so don’t worry.” 

“Yes they will!” 

“Why do you think that?” 

“Look!” Touya said and Sokka could not believe his eyes. With clumsy, jerky and exaggerated arm sweeps, Touya was making the snow move. It wasn’t moving very far, but Sokka knew waterbending when he saw it. His heart spluttered to a stop in his chest and in a fit of unexplainable rage, Sokka shoved Touya into the snow.

“”How could you do this to me!? Why?” Sokka yelled. 

“I don’t know Sokka, it just happened!” Touya cried. Heavy sobs wracked the little boy’s body and tears fell freely down his face. “I didn’t mean to…and now the Fire Nation is gonna take me away. I’m so sorry.” 

Seeing his brother covered in snow and face covered in tears and snot, caused Sokka to deflate. He couldn’t stay angry at Touya over something that wasn’t his fault. “Don’t cry,” Sokka said as he knelt into the snow. He wiped the tears and snot from Touya’s face with a fluffy mitten. “Don’t cry Touya. I’m not mad at you.” 

“You aren’t?” Touya sniffed. Sokka shook his head. 

“I’m just sad,” Sokka sighed. Touya looked blankly at Sokka, sniffing periodically. “Just promise me something, okay?” Sokka asked. 

“Yeah?” 

“Don’t tell anybody else about your magic water okay? Not Mom, not Senka, not Gran-Gran, nobody! Especially not Mom and Gran-Gran.” 

“Why not?” Touya asked. “Shouldn’t Mom and Gran-Gran know?”

“No. If you don’t tell them, then the Fire Nation won’t get you.”

“But why not?” 

Sokka paused. Touya was only eight. He didn’t deserve to have the burdens that Sokka shouldered. He promised the pretty lady that he would become strong enough to protect his brother and save her children. He had to protect Touya, and he had to teach Touya to protect himself. “There was a little girl in the village. She was a little bossy and annoying, but she would always play warriors and tiger-seals with me and I would help her build snowhouses. We went penguin-sledding even though we were way too young. I didn’t realize back then, but she was my best friend.” 

Touya was surprised. To him, Sokka was the coolest big brother who was just like an adult. Sokka never played warriors and tiger-seals with him or went penguin sledding. Who was this girl and why was she so important? “What happened to her?” Touya asked.

“She was really good at waterbending, at least I think she was really good. The whole village knew that she was a waterbender and Dad was always talking about looking for a teacher for her. The Fire Nation found out and they took her away.” Sokka said. He closed his eyes and sighed. “I hope you never see black snow Touya.” 

“Who was she, Sokka? Why would Dad look for a teacher for her?” Touya asked. Their dad was the chief and he cared about everybody in the village, but Touya didn’t think Hakoda would try so hard to find a waterbending teacher for a random village girl. Sokka was quiet for a long time. They stood out in the snow for a long time until Sokka finally spoke. 

“Katara. My little sister.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little bit of a filler chapter, but it does serve an important purpose. It's here where we're introduced to Touya of the Southern Water Tribe and we see the relationship between Sokka and his new little brother. I was trying to do a drabble chapter, but I don't think I did too well with that. I don't think I'm good at drabbles, and I'm not too happy with this chapter. I like the scenarios, but I feel like I didn't get them just right. Anyway, was this chapter alright? Was Sokka too out of character? He has changed a bit from the show and I'm trying to show that without being too out of character for him. 
> 
> So far, I'm really liking Nulia, even though she's had maybe 3 paragraphs so far, but she's my favorite. I wish I could make her more important to the story, but alas, it is not to be. Next chapter we'll be seeing some familiar faces and finally we'll be getting somewhere. Also, I don't want to be the person who always asks for reviews, but I would love to hear what you guys think. I love seeing the view count slowly climb up, but the reviews stay the same. Review please! Or at least tell me what you wanna see and your ideas. Who knows, it might be in the story!
> 
> PS. The ages are six and newborn, seven and one, ten and four, fourteen and eight, in that order. 
> 
> PPS. Sometimes I feel like my notes are longer than the chapters.
> 
> PPPS. 9/5/2014 edit: So I went back and gave every chapter, including this one, chapter names. On the bus today I did a rough outline of the entire work and I updated the number of chapters. Let's see if I make it.


	6. The Boy in the Iceberg

The South Pole was large, nearly empty and made of ice. Sokka had known this ever since he was old enough to think. His village consisted of nothing but a few tattered huts and its inhabitants were old people, women, children and Sokka himself. As the oldest male in the village, it fell onto Sokka to do all of the hunting and protecting of the village. It was a hard and thankless job, but it was one Sokka loved. As the son of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe and Acting-Chief-in-Charge, Sokka had a lot of responsibility and the admiration of those who were left in the village. His Gran-Gran and the women would make hearty stew out of the fish and polar hares he caught. The children looked up to him as their protector and leader. But, there was nothing Sokka liked more than being a teacher. That’s why he was out in the middle of nowhere in a canoe.

“It’s not getting away from me this time,” Sokka said softly, holding his sharpened whale-bone spear over the dark silhouette of a big and juicy looking fish. “Watch and learn, Touya. This is how you catch a fish.” Sokka peered at the water’s surface intently as he felt Touya’s eyes on him. The fish was so close; he could already smell it cooking. His arm tensed, spear raised, ready to strike the water when—“Sokka, look!” The fish swam away and Sokka scowled. He turned to see Touya waving his arm around, making the water move. 

“How come whenever you play with your magic water, I’m always the one who ends up suffering?” Sokka cried. He was so close to catching the fish, so so so close. Sokka sighed and hung his head. Touya looked at Sokka with big eyes, before grinning. “Did you look Sokka? Did you see that!? That’s the most water I made move yet!” 

Sokka looked at his little brother in barely veiled annoyance. Everybody said that Touya was the spitting image of Sokka, but he didn’t think so. Sure, they had the same blue-grey eyes, same light brown hair, they even had the same hairstyle. Or almost did anyway. Touya had tried to shave his own head so he could have an impressive warrior’s wolf tail too. His hair came out all crooked and now the sides of his head were fuzzy with soft hair that Sokka did not enjoy rubbing, no matter how much he rubbed it. 

“Impressive,” Sokka said dryly. “Maybe you can use your waterbending to feed the village too while I sit here in awe!” 

Touya smiled, extremely excited to be given such a large responsibility. “Wow, really!? I can help you hunt? I’ll be a great hunter! I’ve been watching you very closely! I’ve learned a lot!” Touya chattered. Sokka sighed again. His brother just didn’t understand the finer points of sarcasm. 

“That was sarcasm Touya,” Sokka sighed. The wide smile fell off Touya’s face immediately, leaving a dejected look on his face akin to a kicked polar dog. “Listen, I—“ Sokka started before he felt the canoe lurch. For a spilt second, Sokka thought that Touya managed to make the entire ocean move, but Touya looked just as surprised as Sokka felt. Sokka looked around and noticed that the canoe had gotten stuck in a current. Sokka grabbed the only paddle and furiously tried to paddle his way out of the current. Large ice floes rose from either side of the canoe and Sokka paddled furiously to avoid them. “Sokka!! Go left!” Touya yelled. Sokka paddled left. “Left! Left!!” Touya screamed as the floes got closer and closer. 

“Waterbend!!” Sokka screamed. 

“I don’t know how!! Watch out!!” 

The ice was closing in from both sides. In a spilt second decision, Sokka grabbed Touya and jumped out of the canoe just before the small wooden canoe burst into tiny splinters. Great. Now how were they going to get home? Maybe when it was Nulia’s turn to hunt, she would find them. Or they would end up freezing, starving or being eaten to death. “You didn’t go left Sokka,” Touya mumbled. 

“You don’t like my steering? Maybe you should have _waterbended_ us out of the ice,” Sokka retorted. “I knew I should have left you home! Leave it to a kid to screw things up.” 

“What!? I wasn’t the one who steered us right into a current!” Touya cried. 

“I didn’t steer us into the current! We got sucked in. Maybe if you had stayed home, we could be eating some fish right now!” 

Touya’s bottom lip trembled and his eyes watered. Sokka rolled his eyes. “Cry all you want, I don’t care. It’s still your fault,” Sokka scoffed. Touya’s eyes dried up and the boy frowned. 

“It’s NOT my fault! I was only showing you what I could do! Why do you always blame ME for stuff? You’re always yelling at me! WHY? I didn’t DO anything!!” While Touya was yelling, his arms were wildly, disturbing the water around their ice floe, and Sokka heard some very foreboding cracks. 

“Touya,” Sokka tried to interrupt his brother, but Touya was having none of it. He continued his rant, waving his arm around and causing more cracks. Sokka didn’t know a lot about waterbending (and all of his knowledge came from Nulia, who found out from her grand uncle who was there when the waterbenders were taken), but what he did know was that it had a lot to do with arm movements and emotions. And Touya was moving his arms a whole lot and he was being very emotional. 

“No! Stop blaming me! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!” Touya screamed, before a large crack of ice drowned him out. Unbeknownst to Touya, his unconscious waterbending disturbed an underwater iceberg, which decided that the middle of Touya’s tantrum was a good time to surface. 

“Touya, watch out!!” Sokka cried. He grabbed his brother before the boy could slip into the freezing water and watched as the iceberg hit the light. Sokka thought he saw something in the ice, something vaguely human shaped. Touya apparently thought the same thing because he ran to the iceberg excitedly. 

“There’s somebody in there Sokka! Let’s help!” Touya said, pervious temper tantrum all but forgotten. Sokka looked at the iceberg suspiciously, but followed his brother anyway. He had to protect Touya from anything released from that iceberg. “Sokka, give me Dad’s club!” 

“Why don’t you waterbend the thing out of there?” Sokka said sarcastically. Touya frowned and held out his hand. Sokka looked at the outstretched hand impassively. Touya’s expectant expression never changed and with a sigh, Sokka handed Touya the club. “Thanks,” Touya said. He tightly held the club and smashed it into the iceberg repeatedly. Ice shards flew into the air and cracks shot through the iceberg. A loud crack reverberated through the air and Sokka snatched Touya away from the iceberg as it split in half. A bright beam of light filled the air, hurting Sokka’s eyes. Once the light subsided, he saw a person with glowing eyes climb out of the iceberg, only to fall over almost immediately. For reasons Sokka would never understand, he rushed to stop the person’s fall. Up close, Sokka noticed the person was dressed in colors that Sokka had never seen before. There was not a single hair on his head and a blue tattoo rested right on his forehead. He looked young, definitely younger than Sokka. He looked like he was around Touya’s age, maybe a little younger. Sokka wondered how such a young kid could have all that power. What about the tattoos and the strange clothes? Was he a bender? And where did that light-

“Stop it!” Sokka hissed. Touya stopped, whale bone spear still suspended mere inches from the tattooed boy’s head. Sokka gave his brother a glare and Touya let the spear fall to the snow. “I was only poking him…” the younger boy mumbled. Sokka was about to give Touya a lecture about poking strange people in the head, when a small groan reached Sokka’s ears. He turned to see a pair of hazy grey eyes looking at him. “I need…to ask you something,” the boy asked in a scratchy voice. 

“What?” Sokka asked, mind running through everything the boy would need once they get back to the village. He needed a parka, some water, a pair of mittens and seal-hide boots….

“Please,” the boy pleaded. “Come closer.”

Sokka moved closer, close enough that their noses were touching. “What is it?”

“Will you go penguin sledding with me?” The boy’s hazy eyes and tired face brightened to childish exuberance, leaving Sokka momentarily confused.

“Um,” he said as he recovered. “I’m too old to go penguin sledding, but I’m sure Touya would want to-”

“Penguin sledding!?” Touya cried out, apparently having missed the rest of the conversation. “I want to go penguin sledding! Are we going now?” The boy nodded with a bright smile on his face, before standing up and looking around. The smile on his face slowly dissolved into a contemplative look. 

“What’s going on here?” The boy asked. Sokka shrugged his shoulders and stood up himself. “You tell me,” he said. 

“How’d you get in the ice? And why aren’t you frozen?” Touya asked, poking the boy with Sokka’s whale bone spear. The boy idly waved the spear point off of his body and continued to look around, as if he was just noticing the icebergs rising out of the sea. A deep rumbling filled the air and shook the ice floe they were in. Sokka grabbed Touya and pushed his brother behind him. Sokka tried to grab the new kid, but he jumped up the ruined remains of the iceberg. The groaning stopped and Sokka thought he heard something about an “Appa”. What in the world was an “Appa”?

Touya wiggled out from behind Sokka and peeked around to the other side of the iceberg. With a loud gasp, he ran out of his brother’s sight. Sokka panicked and ran towards the other side, jaw dropping and eyes bugging out once he saw what exactly an ‘Appa’ was. It was large, with arrows just like the boy’s, wicked sharp horns and beady brown eyes. Its mouth looked wider than Sokka was tall and it growled with the ferocity of a dozen wolf-sharks. It had even licked the strange boy, proving it had a taste for human flesh! “What is that thing?” Sokka asked, trying very hard to keep the edge of panic out of his voice. What if that thing went for Touya? Compared to the strange boy, Touya must have looked like a five course feast for the beast! Sokka was a good huntsman, but even he couldn’t fight off such a huge monstrous creature. Touya, however, didn’t seem afraid at all. He was looking at the boy and the ‘Appa’ curiously and even seemed a little excited. Sokka scowled. 

“This is Appa, my flying bison.” 

Sokka did not expect that. “Right. And this is Touya,” he pointed to Touya. “My flying brother.” In response to that, the boy gave Sokka an incredulous look. Even the Appa looked confused. It started to bare its teeth and growled softly, before letting out a loud sneeze. In slow motion, Sokka watched the bright green spittle fly in the air. He distantly heard the boy scream out a warning, but it was too late. He felt the warm gunk, sticky and gooey on his face and the rest of his body. Sokka stood there, letting the full impact of what happened to him sink in. He took a deep breath and started wiping the snot from his face. “Ewwwwww,” Touya gagged with a giggle. 

“Don’t worry, it’ll wash right out,” the boy said, as if he were being helpful. Sokka just stared. The boy frowned, unnerved, but bounced right back with a question. “So, do you guys live around here?” 

Touya opened his mouth to talk, but Sokka cut him off, yanking the spear from Touya’s hands and pointing it at the boy. “Don’t answer that,” he said to Touya, who pouted. “Did you see that crazy bolt of light? He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy.” 

Touya rolled his eyes and shoved Sokka out of the way. “I’m sure he’s a spy for the Fire Navy. You can tell by the _evil_ look in his eye.” The boy gave Sokka the most innocent look he had ever seen, and Sokka sighed. He couldn't ever win. 

“The paranoid one is my brother Sokka,” Touya said. “And I’m Touya. You never told us your name.” Sokka rolled his eyes. He was not paranoid, he just was very healthily cautious. Touya was naïve, he didn’t see what the Fire Nation was like, and he hadn’t seen the fringes of the war on his doorstep. And by the looks of it, neither did this kid. 

“I’m A-aaaaaCHOOOO!” Sokka did not expect the burst of wind that accompanied the boy’s sneeze. Sokka did not expect to see him fly thirty feet into the air. Sokka also did not expect to see the boy land safely on the ice, no worse for the wear. “I’m Aang.” 

“You just sneezed! And you flew ten feet in the air!!” Touya cried. 

“Really?” Aang asked. “It felt higher than that.” Sokka thought so too, but he couldn’t think of anything coherent, except that he was seeing an airbender, in the flesh. 

“You’re an airbender!!” Touya gasped. Aang nodded with a smile and Sokka was finally snapped out of his stupor. And he responded to all of this madness the only way he knew how, with bitter sarcasm.

“Giant light beams, flying bison, airbenders, I think I got midnight sun madness,” he said. “I’m going home where things make sense.” Then he remembered where he was. “I would go home if our canoe didn’t split into a million tiny pieces,” he rectified. 

“Canoe? Well, if you guys are stuck, Appa and I can give you a lift,” Aang said, spinning and using his airbending to fly to the top of Appa’s head. Sokka was about to respectfully say no, when he realized just what he was saying no to. If Appa really was a flying bison, they’d be at the village in no time, and even if Appa was not a flying bison, Sokka was sure the thing could swim and still be warm with all that fur. He had no idea if anybody would come for them. They’d be looking of course, but the current had swept them farther out than Sokka expected. None of the women would go out this far, not even Hanna, and she was crazy intense. Sokka didn’t want to go on the creature that had assaulted him so, but there was no way he’d let Touya freeze to death.

“We’d love a ride, wouldn’t we Touya?” Sokka said. Touya looked confused, like he expected Sokka to vehemently protest. The eleven year old grinned and nodded. “Yeah I want to ride Appa!!” he said, running to the side of the bison and trying to climb on. Rolling his eyes, Sokka grabbed Touya’s waist and lifted him onto the saddle. After scrambling on, Touya turned and held his hand out for Sokka, who took it and half climbed onto Appa’s back. Once both siblings were sitting on the saddle upright, Aang looked back and gave them all a grin. 

“First-time flyers, hold on tight! Appa, yip-yip!” Aang cried, snapping Appa’s reins. The creature groaned, snapped his wide tail and jumped into the air. Sokka had to admit, for such a large and heavy thing, Appa could sure jump high. For a blissful moment, they were in the air, wind whipping Sokka’s warrior wolf-tail and even moving the fuzz on Touya’s head. Then Appa belly-flopped the ocean. Sokka sighed. He should have known. “Come on Appa, yip-yip!” Aang tried again. 

“Wow,” Sokka said dryly. “That was truly amazing.”

“Appa’s just tired,” Aang explained. “A little rest and then he’ll be soaring through the sky. You’ll see.” 

“Yeah Sokka, you’ll see,” Touya agreed. Sokka rolled his eyes and made a huge show of groaning. This was going to be a long swim. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

A small black ship in the icy waters of the South was slowly plowing its way through the ice. A figure in red stood at the helm, watching the iceberg-littered ocean pass by. Another figure, this one in bright pink stood behind the imposing person in red, looking bored. “Well I’m going to sleep,” she said, yawning very widely, much more widely and loudly than necessary, as if she were trying to give someone a hint. “Yep, a girl needs her rest.” She stretched, joints cracking loudly, but the figure continued to stare into the ocean. The girl groaned and slumped over. “Come on, Princess, you need to sleep.” Another figure, dressed in a dark maroon color, came from behind the girl in pink. 

“She’s right you know. Even if you’re right and the Avatar is alive, how do you know you’re going to find him?” the maroon-clad girl asked. The princess scowled, but she kept her back to her two advisors. “Your father, your grandfather and great-grandfather all tried and failed. How do you-“ 

“Because their dignity and honor didn’t hinge on the Avatar’s capture,” the princess said. “Mine does. This coward’s hundred years of hiding are over. Now leave.” 

The girl in pink immediately turned around to go, but the maroon-clad girl stayed where she was. “Azula—“ 

“I said leave!” the princess said. This time her orders were not to be disobeyed and both girls left Princess Azula staring at the ocean. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Touya poked his brother in the face. Sokka’s nose wiggled and his face furrowed, but soon his face relaxed and he let out a loud snore. Satisfied with his brother’s state of sleep, Touya crawled to the front of the saddle, where he could look over and see Aang staring at the sky. “Hey,” Touya tried to be nonchalant. 

“Hey,” Aang said, eyes half-lidded in either relaxation or sleepiness. “Whatchu thinking about?” Touya inwardly cursed, he was trying to be nonchalant. 

“I guess I was wondering… you being an airbender and all…if you had any idea what happened to the Avatar,” Touya said. Aang’s eyes grew wide and he started fiddling with his fingers.

“Um no. I didn’t know him. I mean, I knew people who knew him, but I didn’t. Sorry,” Aang replied, offering Touya a weak smile. “Okay, just curious,” Touya said in return. “Goodnight!” He crawled back to where Sokka was and snuggled his brother. He heard Aang say something behind him, but Touya wasn’t paying attention. He was too busy wondering why Aang lied. He didn’t know the boy for very long, but Touya could tell one thing, the airbender sucked at lying. He looked at Sokka and marveled at how peaceful he looked. Sokka always had a scowl on his face or some sort of frown and now he looked so at ease. Touya wrapped his arms around his brother, but before he fell asleep, he wondered. Would Aang be lonely up there on Appa’s head?

By morning, Appa had reached the village. The woman looked at the huge beast in fear, except for Hanna, who brandished a spear and held it threateningly towards Appa. Touya peeked over from the saddle and frowned. What was Hanna gonna do with that spear? Pick Appa’s toes? That was a good idea, he looked like the kind of bison that got gunk in his toes often. “Hey Mom! Hey Gran-Gran!” Touya waved. Sokka, who had also woken up, was busy trying to untangle Aang from Appa’s reins. Apparently the boy had fallen asleep in the middle of steering, leaving Appa to find his way on his own. Sokka thought Appa was pretty smart for a creature that was supposed to be extinct. At Touya’s outburst, Sokka turned, saw the wide-eyed stare of his mother and grandmother and turned his attention back to Aang. 

Touya jumped down and landed hard on the snow, causing Appa to chidingly groan. Touya walked to the women and grinned, but noticed how frightened they looked. He turned to see them all staring at Appa. Touya started at Appa too, who stared back. Their eyes locked, grey-blue meeting brown, boy meeting beast, waterbender meeting alleged flying bison. Appa groaned, startling the women, and opened his mouth wide, frightening them even more. They all took a collective step back and Kya tried to grab her son’s arm. She didn’t know how Sokka could be so nonchalantly on top of that thing, but spirits be damned, she would not let that thing eat her Touya! Before she could reach him, the creature’s long tongue darted out and attached itself to her son. Appa gave Touya a long lick, covering Touya in spit. “Oh ewww Appa,” Touya giggled. He hugged Appa’s face and gave him a little kiss on the fur. 

“I’m glad you’re bonding with Appa, Touya, really I am. I am so happy, so incredibly deliriously happy but maybe you can help your poor big brother with something really important, ” Sokka said. Touya wiped the globbiest of Appa’s spit off his face and peeked up to where Sokka was. “What do you need Sokka?” Touya asked. 

“Set up your sleeping furs okay? Aang needs some sleep,” Sokka said, managing to climb down Appa with Aang in his arms. Touya nodded and ran towards the hut he shared with his mother and brother. Once Sokka was safely on the snow, he looked at the blue and grey eyed stares directed at Appa. The bison looked somewhat bashful, if a bison could look bashful. “This here is Appa. He’s harmless. Just watch out when he sneezes,” Sokka told the still terrified women. He turned to follow Touya when his mother stopped him. 

“Sokka, what is going on? Where were you two? We looked everywhere but we couldn’t find you! You promised you wouldn’t run off again!” Kya cried. He turned, shifting Aang so that his limbs weren’t waving about. Normally Sokka would have ignored his mother or dismissed her fears with a wave of his hand, but she sounded so upset. Her eyes were shining and her face looked anguished. Maybe she really was worried. Or maybe she just didn’t want her precious Touya to be hurt. Either way, Sokka felt like had to assuage his mother’s fears.

“We got swept out in the ocean, but Aang and Appa helped us back.” 

“Aang? Appa?”

Sokka raised the body in his arms slightly. “This is Aang and the huge bison is Appa. He’s huge, but he’s a sweetheart. Just watch out for when he sneezes,” Sokka repeated. “I’m going to put Aang to bed.” Kya didn’t look any more appeased, but some of the worry had left her face. Sokka sighed and gave his mom a weak smile. “Don’t worry,” he said. Kya nodded and let her son take the airbender to their hut. She would trust Sokka, he was dependable and so mature. But she couldn’t help but feel sad, like he was growing up too fast and he didn’t need her anymore. But if she were truly honest with herself, Kya would admit that Sokka hadn’t needed her for a long time. 

“Aang.” 

“Aang.”

“Aang, wake up!” Touya watched Aang shoot up in a cold sweat. The airbender kept writhing and moaning while he was sleeping, as if he was having a bad dream. Sometimes, when Touya had a bad dream, Sokka would wake him up and give him a big hug. Aang looked like he needed a big hug, but manly men didn’t give big hugs to people who weren’t their brothers. “It’s okay, we’re in the village now,” Touya said soothingly. “Come on, get ready. Everyone wants to meet you.” 

Aang nodded, still a little shaken up from his nightmare. Touya wanted to ask about it, but the look on Aang’s face made it clear that he just wanted to forget. For some strange reason, Aang slept with his clothes off and Touya noticed, not that he was staring or anything, that Aang was covered in blue arrows. They were on his head, his arms, hands, feet, back and legs. Touya had never seen such a thing. Once Aang was finished dressing, Touya grabbed his arm and yanked him out to the middle of the village, which was right outside their hut. All the women were wearing various shades of blue and so were their offspring. They all stared at Aang with blank expressions, as if they weren’t sure what to expect from the tattooed stranger. “Aang, meet the… entire village… Entire village, Aang,” Touya introduced. Sokka always told him just how small the village was, but Touya never noticed until he introduced them all to Aang. His whole village consisted of women, children, himself, Sokka and his friend Senka. There were a few men who had been left behind when the warriors left, but they had passed years ago. 

Aang bowed to the women, causing some of them to grab their children and noticeably take a few steps back. Hanna crossed her arms, scowling, while Kya and Kanna exchanged a look. The only woman who returned Aang’s bow was Nulia. “Hello Aang,” she said with a smile. “My name is Nulia, welcome to the Southern Water Tribe.” 

“You mean what’s left of it,” Sokka said bitterly. Touya whipped around and saw Sokka sharpening his machete next to a small tent. Nulia rolled her eyes and ruffled the small strip of hair on Sokka’s head. “Hey! That’s my warrior’s wolf tail!” he cried, swatting her hand away and smoothing his hair. 

“Hi Nulia,” Aang said. “But…why is everyone else looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?” 

Kanna stepped up, her short frame radiating with authority. “Well no one has seen an airbender in over a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my grandsons found you. “ 

Aang stared at Kanna with a look of disbelief. “Extinct? I-“

“Aang,” Sokka interrupted, approaching his brother and the airbender. “This is my grandmother, Kanna.” 

“Call me Gran-Gran,” Kanna said flatly. Sokka smacked his forehead and groaned. 

“What is this? A weapon?” Touya asked, brandishing a long wooden staff. “You can’t stab anything with this! Except for snow.” Touya repeatedly poked the staff into the snowy ground and Sokka wondered where in the world he got that staff from. 

“That’s not for stabbing!” Aang said, grabbing the staff from Touya and twirling it in his hands. “It’s for airbending.” Aang opened it, revealing sunset-colored paper wings. The children laughed and clapped and a little girl pointed at Aang. “Magic trick! Do it again!” 

“Not magic, airbending,” Aang stressed. He frowned, but hid it quickly with a wan smile. “It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly.” 

Just to play devil’s advocate, Sokka said “Last time I checked, humans can’t fly.” 

“Check again!” Aang said, jumping into the air and staying there. Touya’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping. Everyone watched in awe as Aang flew around their heads. Sokka saw a wide smile on Aang’s face as he passed them by in a gust of wind. Aang watched his spectators watch him and started twirling and doing tricks. Sokka’s eyes widened as he saw what Aang did not. “Aang, watch—out…”

Sokka sighed as Aang plowed head-first into the watchtower Sokka toiled and slaved to make. Aang pulled his head out of the tower and tumbled out of the snow, glider and all. Touya ran towards where Aang’s limbs were sticking out of the snow and held out his hand. “That was amazing!!” he gushed while pulling Aang out of the snow. “Can you do it again? Can you teach others how to bend? Like maybe a —”

“Touya,” Sokka said warningly. Touya’s bright chattering stopped abruptly and the bright look in his eyes dulled. Aang looked confused and looked around to gauge the reactions of the other tribespeople. Nobody seemed to notice how quickly Sokka shut his brother down. “Bending is a spiritual art, so I can’t teach it, but maybe you’re a waterbender?” Aang asked innocently. Despite his brown skin, Aang saw Touya’s face turn ashen. Sokka walked up and lightly shoved Aang away from Touya. 

“There aren’t any waterbenders in the South Pole,” Sokka said sternly, bluish grey eyes like two blocks of ice. 

“But the monks said that the Southern Water Tribe was full of waterbending warriors deadlier than even the ones from the Northern Water Tribe!” Aang insisted. He met Sokka’s eyes boldly, but was confused at the anger, protectiveness and fear he saw there. 

“All right, no more playing,” Kanna said, breaking up the staredown between Aang and Sokka. “Come on, let’s get you a parka boy.” The old woman grabbed Aang’s arm with a grip that was stronger than her age suggested. Aang made to protest, but the look on Kanna’s face left no room for arguing. He let himself be dragged away and as he left, the crowd of women and children dispersed as well. After a few minutes, the only people left at the ruins of Sokka’s watchtower were Sokka, Touya and Kya. 

“Touya, what did you mean by what you said?” Kya asked hesitantly. Her face had a look of careful worry, as if she was trying very hard not to look bothered. 

“Nothing Mom,” Touya said nervously. “I just thought that once the avatar returns, Aang could teach him airbending.” Kya looked at her son with a gaze that said she didn’t believe him. With an ease he was used to, Sokka came in and saved his brother. 

“You know Touya, Mom. Always trying to save the world,” Sokka said. Kya wasn’t convinced. 

“Is there something you two aren’t telling me?” Kya asked while looking at both her sons in turn. With wide eyes, Touya shook his head. Sokka steadily met his mother’s gaze with an impassive stare. Kya sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She wanted to say more, Sokka could see it in her face, so he took Touya and left her there in the snow. 

As soon as she was out of earshot, Sokka turned on Touya. “What the hell were you thinking!? Now Mom’s on to us! I told you to never say anything about your waterbending Touya!”

“I know but,” Touya trailed off. “But, I wanted to learn. And I thought maybe Aang could teach me.” 

“You thought Aang could teach you,” Sokka restated, rubbing his temples. “You thought a ten year old airbender could teach you how to waterbend. Wow, Touya.”

“Why not? Didn’t you see him fly? Aang’s a master!” Touya cried. Sokka shook his head and sighed.

“Okay, let’s say that Aang could teach you how to waterbend. What are you going to do then?”

“What do you mean?”

“What are you going to do after you learn!? If you use it, the Fire Nation’s going to wash up on our shores and take you away! This time, they might even raze the whole village this time!”

“Why must I keep my waterbending a secret? Mom and Senka aren’t gonna tell the Fire Nation about me, and neither will Gran-Gran or Nulia or anyone else!” Touya huffed. “Why can’t you just let me learn? I’m not helpless like Katara!” As soon as he said those words, Touya knew he had gone too far. Sokka’s face was blank as he processed what Touya said. Flashes of anger and pain showed on Sokka’s face, before his features smoothed over. 

“You’re right Touya,” Sokka said lightly. “You aren’t Katara. She was much more talented than you are.” Sokka stomped off, leaving Touya hurt and feeling like everything was his fault. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

“Again.”

Azula punched fire into the faces of the soldiers in front of her, dodged their fire blasts and sent a few fire kicks towards them. She flipped out of the way and sent more fire blasts towards the two soldiers. They were at a stalemate and Princess Azula was ready. She settled into a fighting pose.

“Stop, stop! Firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles! Do it again!” 

She repeated the set again, replicating her previous moves perfectly. When her instructor made no move to interrupt, the soldiers attacked again with powerful fire punches. Azula blocked the first three, but the fourth fire blast took her by surprise. She raised her arms to block the blast, but cried out once the fire hit her right arm. She crumbled and cradled her hurt arm against her chest. 

“You aren’t breathing, Princess Azula! The breath becomes energy in the body and that energy extends beyond your limbs and becomes fire,” he said, taking a deep breath and releasing a strong lick of fire from his hands. “Do it again, and get it right this time.”

“Argh, shut up!!” Azula yelled. “I’ve been doing this sequence all day, teach me the advanced moves.”

“You’re being impatient. You haven’t mastered the basics yet and without those, you cannot advance. I’ve told you this,” her instructor sighed. Azula turned and glared at man overseeing her ship. Commander Wei Taizong met her glare with cool confidence, his expression never changing. The wind ruffled his hair slightly, but he was steady in his decorated outfit. 

“Teach me the advanced sets now,” Azula growled. However Wei shook his head. 

“Drill it again,” he said coolly.

“The Fire Sages tell us that the Avatar is the last airbender,” Azula said as she stalked up to Wei. “He must be over a hundred years old by now.” She pointed her finger into his chest, their faces mere inches apart. “He’s had a century to learn the four elements and I’ll need more than basic firebending to defeat him. You _will_ teach me the advanced set.”

“Princess,” Wei said, expression still calm and collected despite the irate princess in his face. “I am only here because I owed your family a favor and your uncle convinced me that overseeing your ship would be worthwhile. So far, I have been stuck babysitting teenage girls and nursing your ego. Now do the set again.”

* * *

* * *

* * *

Early the next morning, Touya snuck into the tent that was set aside for Aang. The airbender seemed to be having peaceful dreams this time, but Touya hesitated on waking the boy. He was ashamed about dinner the previous night. Not only was Aang vegetarian, and their dinner of seal jerky and whale blubber wasn’t exactly edible for him, but Sokka didn’t show up. Touya should have realized that his comment about their missing sister would hurt Sokka’s feelings, especially since he took her kidnapping so personally, but Touya thought everything would be alright by dinner time. Sokka held grudges, but never against him. They were always against their mother, or even their Gran-Gran sometimes, but never Touya. Sokka could never stay mad at him, or so Touya thought. 

So Touya decided he was going to cheer up Aang and take the airbender penguin sledding. Although, the trip was more to cheer himself up. He never got to go penguin sledding, Sokka thought it was too dangerous, leaving Touya to sneak off and sled with Senka. Hanging out with Senka was fun, but sometimes Touya got the feeling that Senka didn’t like him too much. Not as much as Aang seemed to like him. “Aang, wake up,” he said while shaking Aang. The tattooed boy groaned and rolled over. “Aang, wake up!”

“Monk Gyasto, five more minutes please,” Aang muttered. Touya frowned and yanked the blanket off. Aang groaned and huddled up in a ball. Touya noted that Aang was shirtless again. How could he stay warm like that? Touya needed his parka, some blankets and a lot of furs to keep him warm. Kya always said that it was really easy to get frostbite in the South Pole and frostbite meant losing toes. Touya rather liked all his toes. “Aang, come on! Don’t you want to go penguin sledding?”

Aang shot up and looked at Touya with bright eyes. “We’re going penguin sledding? Now?” he asked excitedly. Touya nodded. “Come on Aang, get dressed so we can go!” The airbender spun into his clothes, grabbed his glider and followed Touya out of the small tent. The sun was just rising, illuminating the snow and ice with golden light. It made Touya think that he lived in a large golden palace with a huge skylight. The color also reminded Touya of Aang’s strange clothes. Maybe all airbenders wore clothes like that before they died. They reached the far outskirts of the village, where the otter penguins lived. 

“PENGUIN!!!!” Aang shouted. Touya turned and saw Aang speed off after a small speck of black and white on the horizon. Touya looked at Aang’s snow trail in astonishment. He was so fast. Touya blinked. “Hey wait! Don’t leave me! Aang!!”

Despite his best attempts, Touya lost Aang, but following the upturned snow did lead Touya to the penguin resting grounds. He looked around until he heard laughter and an orange figure chasing some penguins. “Hey, come on little guy, want to go sledding?” Aang asked as he leapt after a penguin. The bird deftly jumped away, leaving Aang with a face full of snow. Aang used his airbending to float upright and gave Touya a grin. “I have a way with animals,” Aang said before he started waddling like the penguins and quacking. Touya giggled and then joined in the fun. As the boys waddled after the penguins and scared them off with their obnoxious quacking, Touya felt a peace he had never felt before. Though he didn’t have any doubts, it was that moment that he knew that he had made the right decision in bringing Aang penguin sledding. “I wish we would actually catch one though,” Aang said as soon as he was done quacking. 

“Aang, I’ll teach you how to catch a penguin if you teach me waterbending,” Touya said. Aang leaped and grabbed the tail of a penguin, but the feathers proved too slippery to get a good grip on.

“You have a deal!” Aang said, but then frowned. “But I thought there weren’t any waterbenders in the South Pole. “

Touya fidgeted with his fingers and looked at his feet squirming in his boots. “That was a lie. We have to keep my waterbending a secret or else the Fire Nation is gonna come back and take me away.”

“Why would the Fire Nation care if you can waterbend or not?” Aang asked. 

Touya rolled his eyes. He asked Sokka the same thing and the answer was always the same. “It’s so we won’t be able to fight back in the war, that’s what Sokka says anyway.”

“War? What war?” 

Touya’s eyes grew wide. He looked at Aang, who genuinely looked puzzled. How could Aang not know about the war? Touya had never seen anybody from the Fire Nation before, but he knew about the war, Sokka wouldn’t let him forget it. “You’re kidding, right?” Touya asked.

Aang shrugged and changed the subject. “I’m an airbender, not a waterbender. Isn’t there someone in your tribe that can teach you?”

“You’re looking at the only waterbender in the whole South Pole,” Touya said sadly. 

“This whole thing isn’t right. A waterbender needs to master water…” he trailed off with a thoughtful look on his face. He paused for a minute, before brightening up. “How about the North Pole? They must have waterbenders to teach you.”

Touya crossed his arms and pouted. “Maybe they do, but they haven’t talked to us in a long time. We can’t exactly go left at the next glacier. The Northern Water Tribe is too far!”

Aang’s bright look never wavered. “But you forget, I have a flying bison. Appa and I can fly you to the North Pole! We’re gonna find you a master!”

“Really?” Touya’s arms and jaw dropped. Aang nodded with a grin. “Yeah! Let’s do it! I’ve never left home before!” 

“Okay! But first, can you teach me how to get a penguin?” Aang asked. Touya nodded and gave Aang a cheeky smile. “Watch this,” he said, rifling through his parka. Finding what he was looking for, Touya threw a small fish at Aang. As soon as the fish was released from its confines of fur and wool, the penguins were captivated. They jumped and waddled towards Aang and his fish, swarming him. Aang laughed and his laughter made Touya laugh too. They grabbed the two biggest penguins and dragged them towards a large decline. 

“Are you ready?” Touya said, readying himself. 

The airbender climbed onto his penguin without any difficulty at all. “I was born ready.”

They pushed off and the world rushed past them in a blur of sun, sky and ice. It has been such a long time since Touya had been penguin sledding, he had forgotten just how exhilarating it was. Aang’s laughter rung through the tundra and Touya could hardly stop himself from whooping too. They sled over hills, through ice caverns and onto another part of the tundra. They slowed down to a stop and the penguins wiggled from underneath the two boys and waddled off. Aang was captivated by the sight in front of them. “Whoa, what is that?” he asked while taking small steps towards the object of his curiosity. Touya frowned. Senka had brought him out there once and tried to get him to explore, but Touya refused. He looked at the large Fire Nation ship suspended about the icy ground. His Gran-Gran said that the waterbenders captured that ship and trapped it in its icy prison, but that was a long time ago.

“It’s a Fire Navy ship,” Touya said simply. 

“Let’s go inside!” Aang said after taking three steps towards the ship. Touya reached out and yanked Aang back.

“We’re not supposed to go near it! The ship could be booby trapped! Plus Sokka would be really mad at me if I went on the ship.”

Aang rolled his eyes. “If you wanna be a bender, you have to let go of your fear.” 

Touya looked at Aang, then looked at the ship worriedly. Aang gave Touya a bright smile and Touya followed Aang onto the ship. The closer they got to the ship, the more worried Touya got. Senka told Touya that he worried too much, but Touya thought he was just healthily cautious. On the side of the ship was a gaping hole; Aang climbed into it with ease and with a little difficulty, Touya did the same. The young waterbender clutched the back of Aang’s tunic as they explored the ship. “This ship has haunted my tribe ever since Gran-Gran was young,” Touya said. Aang didn’t seem to hear him. Instead, Aang was focused on a collection of maces, spears and swords hanging on the walls. Touya couldn’t see, but Aang’s face was troubled.

“It was part of the Fire Nation’s first attacks.”

“Okay, back up,” Aang said, shaking his head. “I have friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation. Why would they attack here?”

Touya looked at Aang incredulously. “I’ve never been out of the Tribe but even I know about the war!”

“What war? I’ve never seen any war!”

Touya paused. He was kidding, right? “Aang…just how long were you in that iceberg?”

“I dunno, a few days maybe?” Aang said, but he seemed unsure.

“You must have been in there for a hundred years!” Touya said. 

“What!?” Aang cried. “That’s impossible! Do I look like a hundred and twelve year old man to you?”

Touya shook his head. “You being in there for a few days doesn’t make any sense. The war is a century old. You don’t know about it, which means you were stuck in there for a hundred years.”

“A hundred years?” Aang crossed his arms. “You’re the one not making any sense. That means everybody I know—“ Abruptly Aang cut off and fell to the ground. “Everybody I know is…”

Touya walked towards Aang and gave him a hug. “I’m sorry Aang, but look on the bright side. You got to meet me and Sokka!” 

Aang looked at the steel interior on the ship and gave Touya a small smile. “Yeah, you aren’t that bad, though Sokka’s kind of a jerk.”

Touya giggled. “Yeah, he kinda is. But come on, let’s get out of here. This place is creepy.”

Aang nodded and let Touya help him to his feet. They tried going back the way they came, but neither boy remembered where the entrance was. Touya ended up following Aang, yet again, as the airbender led them into a small cabin. Or something like that. Touya didn’t know much about Fire Nation ships, since the only seafaring vessels he had ever been on were small fishing boats and canoes. Suddenly, Aang tripped and the doorway was being blocked by bars. Touya ran to the door and pushed, hoping the old age of the metal would cause it to break. It didn’t work. 

“What’s that you said about booby traps?” Aang sighed. Touya opened his mouth to retort, but the smell of smoke and the creak of rusty machinery stopped him. Touya looked wildly around as the cabin filled with smoke and gauges started whistling. “Uh-oh….” Aang said from his spot near the window. Touya looked and saw a bright light explode in the sky. 

“Was that a flare!?” Touya cried. “Did you signal the Fire Nation!?”

“Hold on!” Aang said. Touya, too busy in hysterics about the impending Fire Nation attack and his subsequent death, was taken aback when Aang grabbed him and flew out of the ship. Each hop down the side of the hull was accentuated by airbending and despite his upcoming doom and being carried by someone slightly shorter than he was, Touya was having a little fun. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

“Did you see that?” 

“See what, Princess Azula?”

“The flare and—“ Princess Azula cut herself off as she squinted into the telescope. “I see him, the last airbender.”

“What!?” the girl in pink squawked. “Let me see!” She pushed Azula out of the way and peered through the eyeglass herself. “Wow, for an old man, he’s quite agile.” 

Her sister huffed and pushed her out of the way. “You guys must have midnight sun madness, the Avatar—oh my Agni,” the girl in maroon said. “Someone wake up Wei! The Princess has found the Avatar!” The girl peered through the telescope again. The Avatar, along with a figure in blue, were running towards a small walled village. A stab of pity went through her, but it quickly passed. “We’ve found his hiding spot too.”

“Stop hogging the view Yu Lee!!” the girl in pink cried while shoving her sister into Princess Azula, who had just managed to stand back up. The two went tumbling back down in a mess of limbs. Azula opened her mouth to say something, anything, but she didn’t and she closed her eyes as the two sisters argued. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

“Aang what are you doing!? We can’t go back to the village!” Touya huffed after a sprinting Aang.

“Why not?” Aang called back. 

“If the Fire Nation is coming, we can’t let them find us! You’re an airbender and I’m the last waterbender! They’ll take us to the Fire Nation and kill us like they did with my sister!”

At that, Aang slowed down and stopped running. “Your sister?”

“Yeah,” Touya panted as he caught up. “My older sister was a waterbender and she was taken away during a raid. That’s why my bending is a secret. Sokka doesn’t want me to be taken away either. He wants to go rescue her, but I think she’s dead.” Although Touya knew he should be sad or at least a little hurt, he wasn’t. His sister was taken before he was born and he never knew her. He didn’t even know what she looked like and Touya had the sneaking suspicion that Sokka had forgotten too.

“Come on, you stay here while I get Appa,” Touya said. 

“But what if the Fire Nation comes after me?”

“Hide under the snow, Aang!” Touya said. Aang gave Touya an incredulous look, but the younger boy just gave him a grin. Touya ran towards the outskirts of the village, where Appa was lounging in the snow. “Come on boy,” Touya said. The bison yawned and clambered to his feet. Touya led the large bison towards where Aang… was not hiding under the snow. Touya pouted. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

When Sokka saw the first flake of black snow, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He saw the flare and he had an inkling as to who set it off, especially considering neither Aang nor Touya had returned to the village. Sokka’s eyes followed the small flake of ash until it landed on a soft mound of snow, it a gritty black against the stark white of the snow. Though he wanted to send out a search party for Touya and Aang, in reality, they were safer away from the village. Sokka would protect the young ones and the old women as much as he could and hopefully once the Fire Nation deemed that they weren’t holding an errant soldier hostage, they’d leave. Sokka was not going to fail this time. The pushed past the throng of frightened women and headed to his hut. He strode past his confused mother and took out his father’s old war paint. He tried to recreate the frightening mask he’d only seen a few times. Kya looked on with an immense sadness in her eyes. Once Sokka was finished, she could hardly recognize him. Over the three years the men had been gone, she watched her son grow into a man. But once she thought about it, he had always been a man, she just hadn’t seen it until now. “You look just like your father,” she told him. And he did. He looked like a warrior, the only warrior left all the South Pole. She looked underneath her pallet and took out a boomerang. “This belonged to your father. He wanted to give it to you after your ice-dodging, but…”

“That didn’t happen,” Sokka said simply and without any malice. Kya nodded. She handed it to him and Sokka took it and tucked it away. With his machete in his left hand and his whale-bone spear in his right, Sokka left his mother and the hut she shared with his family. The black ship loomed in the horizon, breaking through the ice shore. The wall surrounding the village crumbled and his watchtower along with it. Sokka heard screaming and looked back to see his grandmother staring at the ship in shock. The ice around them cracked and Sokka ran to push his grandmother out of the way. “Gran-Gran get inside!” he yelled at her, but his cry fell on deaf ears. She kept staring and once Sokka turned to see what she was looking at, he saw a long metal walkway shoved into the ice and the ship was belching smoke. Someone in deep red clothes and bright red armor was walking down the walkway, along with two skull faced soldiers. As the person came closer and closer, Sokka saw that the figure in front was a lot shorter than the two soldiers. The figure stepped onto the snow and Sokka saw that it was a girl around his age, or maybe younger, with golden eyes and black hair piled on top of her head. On her face was a look of pure arrogance that filled Sokka with an unexpected fury. Her eyes were like _his_. 

Sokka rushed at her before she could say anything. He wasn’t going to go easy on her because she was a girl. His father and the men said that fighting was a man’s job, but he had seen Hanna hunt and Nulia train the other women. They were fierce and Sokka was not going to underestimate them. If this Fire Nation girl wanted to fight like a man, then she would get beat like one. The girl’s eyes widened as she saw the machete gleaming in the light. At the last possible second, she sidestepped, but Sokka saw a few strands of black hair fly through the air. She lashed out with a left hook, surprising Sokka since he was on her right. He was hit, but he recovered and swiped out with the machete again. This time, the girl was ready. With her left hand, the girl hit his arm with several quick jabs, causing it to fall limp, the machete falling onto the snow. Sokka looked at his limp arm in shock, only regaining his senses in time to evade a flaming fist. Using his good arm, Sokka took out the spear and jabbed, but with a smirk, the girl lit the wooden base of the spear on fire. Sokka dropped it and readied his arm to give her a good punch, but she sent an arc of fire his way. With a yelp, Sokka fell backwards to avoid the flame, harshly landing on the snow. 

The girl laughed and it rung in Sokka’s ears. “Is this all the Southern Water Tribe has to offer? A boy in makeup?” Those words stung. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t know much about fighting. The men left and what little he knew came from a fisherman and a spinster. Masako was no warrior. Nulia did not know how to fight. The girl stepped over him and approached the women and children. She looked up and down the small collection of people impassively. “Where are you hiding the Avatar?”

When nobody said anything, the girl turned back to her ship and made to leave, causing the tribe to collectively let out a sigh. However, the girl turned back again at the beginning of the metal walkway. “If none of you tell me where you are hiding him, I will take my ship and ram your village,” she said coolly. The tribe let out a gasp and Sokka narrowed his eyes. There was no way he’d let that happen. Unhooking his boomerang from his waistband, Sokka threw the boomerang with all his might. With relish, he noticed that the girl flinched away, eyes wide and uncertain as the boomerang whizzed by her head. 

“Ha!” she exclaimed, eyes lit with childish smugness. “You missed! You weren’t even—“ Sokka smirked as the girl abruptly stopped. Boomy always came back when he needed it to. The girl clutched her head and squeezed her eyes tightly against tears that threatened to fall. “Just find the Avatar!!” she screeched to the skull faced soldiers. The men looked at each other, then back at the girl. 

“Um, what does the Avatar look like?” the braver of the two asked. Furiously, the girl pointed to Gran-Gran. 

“He must be a hundred years old, like that woman over there!”

Sokka gaped. “Hey! That’s my grandmother!” The girl’s eyes flickered to where he was sprawled on the ground and scowled. 

“He’s the master of all four elements,” she continued, ignoring Sokka. “I know you’re hiding him!” 

At least now Sokka knew the Fire Nation was after Aang and not Touya. Sokka would have sighed, but worry had a tight vice-grip on his heart. In the short time Aang was here, Sokka started to like the flighty little airbender. 

“Hey!!” cried a voice that Sokka recognized in a heartbeat. “What do you think you’re doing!!?” Touya had his hands on hips in a position their mother liked to use when she was upset. “Leave our tribe alone!” he cried, scooping up slush to make a snowball. Sokka’s blood ran cold. If Touya threw that snowball at the girl, who knows what would happen. Sokka ran and positioned himself in front of his brother, boomerang in hand. The soldiers made to surround them, but a wall of snow fell into their skulled faces. 

“Looking for me?” said another voice that Sokka recognized. Aang pointed his glider towards the girl. 

“You’re the airbender?” she asked, clearly confused. “You’re the Avatar?” Aang nodded to her and Sokka saw Touya’s eyes widen from the corner of his eye. “I’ve been training for this moment for years. Firebending, meditating, doing stupid breathing exercises and you’re just a child!!” 

Aang stopped and gave the girl a wide eyed stare. “Well you’re just a teenager,” he retorted. The girl seethed and she sent out a flurry of flames from her fists. Though he didn’t notice it before, Sokka saw that her right hand was bandaged and her movements on the right were slightly stiffer. Suddenly, the fact that she only attacked him with her left hand made more sense. 

Aang yelped and used his staff to redirect the flames. Some got too close to the gaggle of villagers and the screams of children filled the air. Aang stopped and looked at the kids who were so enraptured with him. “If I go, will you promise to leave the villagers alone?” he asked the girl. She nodded and the skull-faced men grabbed each of the airbender’s arms. 

“But Aang!” Touya cried. “You can’t do this! Don’t do this!”

“Don’t worry Touya,” Aang said with a wan smile. “It’ll be okay.” In that moment, Sokka thought Aang seemed a lot older than his years. He watched the soldiers roughly push Aang onto the metal ship, the girl trailing behind them. 

“Set a course for the Fire Nation,” she said and Sokka felt his heart drop. Once again the Fire Nation came and once again, he failed to protect the village. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

“This staff would make an excellent gift for my uncle. I suppose you wouldn’t know much of uncles would you? Since you were raised by monks and all,” the girl said while admiring Aang’s glider. Yu Lee and her sister eyed the staff warily. 

“Are you sure it’s a staff?” the girl in pink asked before her sister jabbed her in the side. 

“Why wouldn’t it be?” 

“Of course it is,” Yu Lee said with a smile. “Ty Lee’s just upset that we missed all the fun. _Someone_ wanted us to help him find his Pai Sho pieces.” Yu Lee sent a pointed glare at Wei, who grinned sheepishly. 

Aang watched the exchange in confusion, his eyes torn between glancing at Yu Lee and Ty Lee and staring at Wei’s impressive hair. Out of the three newcomers, Aang could only see Wei clearly. The girl in pink had her face clutched in her hands and was hunched over, while her sister was patting her back. 

“Ugh, take the Avatar into the prison hold and take this to my quarters, I have a headache,” Azula said, handing the staff to Wei before stalking off. Wei looked at the staff in his hand blankly. 

“Hey,” he said to a soldier nearby. “You mind taking this to her quarters for me? Thanks.” The soldier stared blankly at the staff as Wei followed Azula deeper into the ship. The soldiers pushed Aang into another direction, leaving the two sisters on deck. Aang glanced at them one more time and the one in maroon met his gaze. Then black filled his vision as her was forced under the ship’s hull. 

“I bet you’ve never fought an airbender before,” Aang taunted his two guards. “I bet I could take you on with my hands tied behind my back!”

“Silence,” the one in front said with a metallic clang to his voice. The man took out a key to what was to be Aang’s prison, when a gust of wind suddenly pressed the soldier against the door. Aang and the second guard were pushed back and with a blast of air, Aang propelled himself upwards and onto the deck. The two girls were gone, leaving Aang a clear view of the door leading deeper into the ship. He kicked a gust of wind to it, opening the door and running into it. He had to find his glider. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

“We have to go after that ship, Sokka!”

“Touya…”

“Aang saved our tribe and now we have to save him! I know you don’t like him and he called you a jerk, but he’s on our side! If we don’t help him, no-one will! We owe him and—“

“Touya!!”

Touya turned and saw Sokka with two travel packs. He looked a little beyond his brother and saw Appa stretching his legs. “Yes Sokka?”

“Are you going to talk all day or are you coming with me?” the seventeen year old asked. He pointed to Appa, who seemed all packed and ready to go. Touya ran and gave Sokka a hug, before pushing him away and coughing. 

“Manly men don’t hug,” Touya explained as Sokka looked confused. His older brother rolled his eyes. 

“Get on Appa. We’re going to save your boyfriend.”

Touya’s face turned a deep scarlet as all the blood in his body rushed to his face. “He’s not my boyfriend!!!”

“Whatever,” Sokka said, climbing onto Appa’s head. “Just get our stuff and put it on Appa.”

“What about the village and Mom and Gran-Gran?” Touya asked, looking out and seeing the village repair the damage that the Fire Nation ship inflicted upon it. 

Sokka shrugged his shoulders. “I told Gran-Gran and she said a lot of mumbo jumbo about destiny and fate and intertwining and blah blah. Now let’s go before we lose that ship.”

Touya threw the packs over and climbed onto Appa. The bison groaned and jumped into the water, using its tail to leisurely float in the water. After a half hour of this, Sokka was coping the only way he knew how, with dry sarcasm. 

“Go. Fly. Soar.” 

“I don’t think you’re doing it right Sokka,” Touya said. 

“Stop being a backseat bison steer-er Touya!” Sokka said. “I don’t see you doing anything.” Touya looked up from his comfortable perch in Appa’s saddle. 

“Maybe you should try going left.”

Sokka slapped his forehead, leaving a bright red palm mark on his face. He sighed and leaned over Appa’s head so he was staring eye to eye with the bison. “You want to find Aang don’t you? So go up. Ascend. Elevate.” The bison groaned in response. 

“Maybe it’s a special word or something,” Touya said. “What did Aang say…Yahoo? Hup-Hup? Yee-Ha?”

Suddenly, everything fell together in Sokka’s head. “Yip-Yip!” he cried, and in response Appa groaned and splashed his tail. Appa bounced up and down, as if he was jumping and with another mighty splash of his tail, Appa was in the air. 

“You did it Sokka!!!” Touya cried. 

“He’s flying! He’s flying! Touya, he’s—“ Sokka looked back and saw a smug look on Touya’s face. Sokka quickly reigned in his excitement and sat back down on Appa’s head, taking the reins in hand. “Big deal, he can fly. Whoo hoo.”

* * *

* * *

* * *

Every door Aang went to was a dead end. He had soldiers catching up behind him and soldiers in front of him. How did such a small ship carry so many people? “You haven’t seen my staff have you?” Aang asked the soldiers. They only unsheathed their swords in reply. Aang sighed and ran towards them at full speed, using his airbending to walk on the walls and ceiling in turn, before dropping to the ground behind them. In midair, he managed to untie his hands and used blasts of air to open each new door he saw. Each one was just as empty as the last, except for one. He saw the girl in maroon hunched over a paper-covered desk, head drooping and softly snoring. A pink-clad body was in the bed beside the sleeping girl, snoring loudly and with her back towards Aang. “Sorry,” Aang whispered and softly closed the door. 

In a room with the door already open, Aang saw his staff. He grinned and bounded into the room, only to hear the door close with a loud clank. “It seems like I underestimated you,” Princess Azula said. She glared at Aang, before dropping into a firebending pose and sending out a flurry of fireballs. Aang yelled and dodged a fireball, only to narrowly miss another. Aang noticed, in the part of his brain that wasn’t freaking out at the close proximity of the fire, that the girl was really fond of sending out flurries of fire.

Aang created an air scooter and scooted across the room, dodging each fireball and grabbing his glider. He flew out the door, leaving a very frustrated and dizzy Azula in his wake. Aang sped through the halls of the ship until he was at the navigational chamber. His eyes briefly met the eyes of the guy steering the ship, before Aang threw out his glider and jumped onto it. A cry met Aang’s ears but he paid it no mind as he tried to fly away from his captors. However, his glider tumbled down to the ground as Azula managed to grab Aang’s leg and pull the airbender down. They quickly stood up and faced each other off when a groan reached their ears. Azula looked up and with confusion clearly etched upon her face, she asked “What is that?”

Aang turned and cried out, “Appa!” but was nearly pushed overboard by a flame. He caught his balance, but Azula would not let him recover. She sent out one stream of flame after the next until Aang finally fell overboard, staff clattering onto the deck. The icy waters of the South Pole sucked all the heat out of Aang’s body and he felt his organs start to shut down. Distantly, he thought he could hear Touya calling his name, but Aang was just so cold. He heard a familiar voice telling him that everything was going to be alright and then everything became bright. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Azula watched as the Avatar rushed out of the water in a torrent of waterbending. His eyes and tattoos were glowing in a blinding light and with ease, the Avatar pushed her and all of her soldiers off the ship and into the icy waters. Luckily she and her men were all firebenders and could stave off frostbite, but Azula was not going down without a fight. She grabbed a chain off the side of her ship and slowly climbed as her teeth chattered in the icy wind. 

“Aang! Are you okay?” she heard the ponytailed boy ask and a rush of indignant anger filled her. How dare that filthy peasant attack her on the head with that primitive weapon? Once she got up there, she’d show him who the princess of the Fire Nation was.

“Thanks for coming,” the Avatar said weakly. “I dropped my staff over there.”

“I’ll get it!” said a younger voice that wasn’t the Avatar or the ponytailed peasant. Perhaps it was that child who tried to throw a snowball at her. Her deduction was proven correct as the smaller peasant bounced into her view. Azula’s hand shot out and grabbed the staff just as the boy grabbed it. The boy met her eyes and screamed loudly. He tried to shake her off the staff, but her grip was too strong. Panicked, the boy thrust the staff into her forehead, catching her off guard. He poked her again and again and she slipped and fell back into the cold ocean. Or she would have if she didn’t grab the chain attaching the anchor to the ship.

“That’s from the Southern Water Tribe!!” the boy laughed. With a growl, Azula used her right hand to send a blast of fire into his face. He yelped and jumped back, causing Azula to regain some of her shattered pride. Slowly, she climbed back up onto the deck, ignoring the commotion and the loud voice of the older peasant. She heard a groan from the large creature and saw it fly off from her vantage point on the side of the ship. Suddenly a pale hand entered her field of vision and she let Wei pull her onto the ship. “We have to shoot it down!” she cried and the two of them created a large fireball and blasted it towards the bison. She ignored the trails of ice on the ground and the fact that three of her best soldiers had been frozen in their place. She only had eyes for the airbender who had redirected the fireball and hurled it into a large iceberg. With a long suffering sigh, Azula watched the snow dislodge itself from the iceberg and fall over her and the deck of her ship. She blankly started at the large wall of snow that had buried her ship.

“Good news,” Wei said cheerfully. “The greatest threat to the Fire Nation is just a little boy.”

“Commander…” Azula said. “That child did all of this.” She waved her bandaged hand at her buried ship. “I won’t underestimate him again.” She turned to the firebenders who were thawing out the frozen men. “As soon as you are finished with that, I want you to dig out the ship!”

“Dig out the ship?” Ty Lee yawned, stretching her legs and managing to rub at her eyes with her feet. She flipped back into an upright position and saw the damage. “What happened while I was sleep!?”

* * *

* * *

* * *

“I thought you said you couldn’t waterbend!” Touya accused, jabbing a finger into Aang’s chest. “But you did that cool thing with the water!! It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen!”

Aang held his head down and looked at his hands sadly. “I don’t know, I just….did it, I guess.” 

“I have a better question,” Sokka said. “Why didn’t you tell us you were the Avatar?”

“Because…because I never wanted to be.” Aang turned his head away and Sokka shivered as a cloud passed over the setting sun. 

“Aang,” Touya said. “The world has been waiting for the Avatar to return and end this war.”

“But how am I gonna do that?”

“Well, first you have to learn all the elements.” Sokka crossed his arms and leaned back in Appa’s saddle. “Since you already know air, you need to learn water, earth and fire, in that order.”

Touya looked at Sokka as if to ask how in the world did his brother know all of that, but he was too busy focusing on what Aang needed to learn next. “We can go to the North Pole and learn waterbending together!” Touya said excitedly. At that, Aang perked up. 

“And they could teach you how to fight better Sokka! And you could knock some firebender heads!” Aang added. 

Sokka smiled. “I’d like that. I’d really like that.”

“Then it’s settled!” Touya affirmed. “To the Northern Water Tribe!” 

“But first,” Aang said, taking out a map. “We have to go here, here and here.” He pointed to several small islands surrounding the South Pole. “We have to ride the Hopping Llamas here and then go here to surf on the backs of elephant koi fish and back over here, we’ll ride the Hog Monkeys.”

Sokka looked at the giant grin on Aang’s face and the identical grin forming on Touya’s. He sighed and slapped his hand onto his forehead. This was going to be an incredibly long journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've spent every day of the past month writing this chapter and I really hope you guys like it. I didn't want to split it into two because my outline is very strict and I really don't want to write more than 40 chapters for one story. Anyway, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my sisters (well my birth sister and a friend who's like a sister to me, but same diff). Without them, I probably wouldn't finish this story. Even when I was stuck and didn't want to write anymore, they pushed me to finish and listening to me patiently whenever I was dumb with excitement over plot twists. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! I'm not sure if chapter seven will take as long or if it'll be as long as this one. I'm currently a few pages in, but I still have work and school to deal with. But loyal readers, do not fret! All the free-time I have are spent writing this story and crying over Legend of Korra episodes on tumblr.


	7. Appas and Ba-Momos

Princess Azula strode off her small ship with all the arrogance the Fire Nation could spare. “Wei, Yu Lee, I want the repairs to the ship done as fast as possible,” she commanded. “We can’t lose our charge’s trail.”

“Our charge? You mean the Avatar?” Ty Lee asked. 

“Shut up! Don’t mention his name!” Azula grabbed Ty Lee’s collar. “If word gets out that the Avatar has returned, every half-bit firebender will be out looking for him. And I don’t want anyone getting in the way.”

“Getting in the way of what?” asked a deep and smooth voice. Azula let go of Ty Lee and stared with wide eyes as a tall man with cruel golden eyes approached them. The man gave the girls and Wei a cruel mockery of a smile. “Princess Azula.”

“Captain Zhao,” Wei greeted with a tight smile. He straightened up to his full height, which was slightly taller than Zhao, and stared into his eyes boldly. 

Zhao smiled again. “It’s Commander now,” he smirked. He then turned to the sisters in their matching outfits. “The Ladies Wairen,” he said with a small bow. “Your beauty is even more marvelous in person. You two outshine your sisters immensely.” 

Yu Lee bowed in return as Ty Lee giggled. Azula scowled and she flipped her short bangs out of her face. She didn't expect that water tribe peasant to attack her with a machete and because she underestimated him, he managed to chop off a good chunk of her lovely chin-length bangs. Now they reached just below her eyes and Azula was upset. 

"Commander Taizong, I actually saw your brother a few weeks ago," Zhao said in his simpering voice. 

"Oh really? "

"Yes, I did. His wife recently welcomed another son. How does it feel to be dead last in inheritance?" 

"How does it feel to have no inheritance?" Wei retorted. Zhao scowled viciously. 

"Your mind tricks don't work here Zhao. Despite what you think, I became a Commander on my own merit, not by servicing the _needs_ of those higher in station. But there's nobody higher than me now is there Zhao?" Wei smiled. 

Anger contorted Zhao’s face before it was replaced with a cool smile. “Speaking like that is amount to high treason, Commander Taizong. You wouldn’t want to be… banished,” he said with a pointed look at Azula. She scowled in return and crossed her arms. “Pleasantries aside, what brings you to my harbor?”

Azula opened her mouth to hiss that this wasn’t his harbor, when Yu Lee cut her off. “Our ship is being repaired,” she said. Zhao looked at the ship and his eyes widened. Azula frowned too. It looked like a hunk of scrap metal. 

“That’s… quite a bit of damage,” he said haltingly.

“Yes. You wouldn’t believe what happened,” Azula said. She balked under Zhao’s expectant look. “Ty Lee, tell Commander Zhao what happened!”

Ty Lee smiled and jumped up. “Yes, I will! It was incredible!! We…. Did we crash or something?”

“Right into an Earth Kingdom ship,” Wei finished innocently. A look of skepticism flashed across Zhao’s face, but it was quickly replaced by a practiced look of astonishment. 

“Really? You’ll have to tell me all the thrilling details. Won’t you join me for a drink?” he asked.

“I’d rather not,” Azula said and started walking off. Wei grabbed her arm and gave Azula a pointed look. 

“Princess Azula, show the commander your respect. We would be honored—“ he started, before Yu Lee coughed delicately. Wei and Zhao turned to her with confusion on their faces. 

“I think it’s rather inappropriate for three young women to have a drink with a man of your age and station, Commander Zhao. We have not reached our age of majority,” she said. Zhao, clearly not expecting to be refused, gaped and spluttered. 

“No, it’s fine. You’ll only be serving tea, right Commander?” Azula asked. Zhao nodded, barely recovered. “Then it’ll be our honor to join you for tea. You have matcha tea, right.” Her statement was not a question. “It’s my favorite. “

Zhao nodded and led the girls, plus Wei, to his ship. Azula noticed with disdain that it was much larger than her own, in addition to being a newer model. The design was sleek and cutting edge, with towers and spires that her ship lacked. From her hazy childhood memories of the royal court, she remembered Zhao being an upstart from a poor family who only rose through the ranks by riding on the coattails of those more powerful than he. The fact that he was a commander now… her uncle must be getting senile. 

The captain’s quarters were lavishly decorated in plush red carpets with golden trim. The walls were just as richly decorated. Azula saw the trophy wall lined with weapons of those Zhao bested and on the other was the emblem of the Fire Nation in all of its glory. But outshining the trophies and the emblem was a large and detailed map of the world. The vast landmass of the Earth Kingdom seemed to swallow up the small chain of islands that made her home. The North Pole stood its ground at the top, seemingly looking down on the rest of the world in disdain. At the very bottom was the South Pole, once magnificent, but broken by years of cruel raids. Azula glanced at Yu Lee, but the girl was engrossed in a whispered conberstion with her sister.In the middle of the room was a small table with five chairs squeezed around it. The table hardly looked big enough for two people and Azula resisted the urge to smirk. The great and mighty commander couldn’t even have a table large enough for more than one guest. A soldier set a steaming pot of tea, along with several small cups, in the middle of the table and ushered himself out. Azula, the sisters and Wei took a seat and poured themselves a cup of tea, while Zhao circled his way towards the map. 

“You see this?” he said to no-one in particular, but all of his guests turned to pay attention. “This,” Zhao pointed to the Earth Kingdom. “Is the second biggest threat to the war, but by years end, the Earth Kingdom capital will be under our control. I guarantee it.”

Wei scoffed. “The Fire Lord cannot possibly believe that taking down Ba Sing Se will be that easy. Especially when he led both of the campaigns that utterly failed.” Zhao scowled and focused his attention to Wei. Ty Lee, having finished with her tea, got up and wandered over to the trophy rack. Yu Lee’s eyes followed her sister, narrowed briefly, and returned to her cup of tea. 

“I can see that three years at sea has not curbed your tongue, Wei,” Zhao spat. Wei shrugged.

“The Fire Lord asked me to accompany his niece on her quest personally. I suppose he has great faith in my abilities, regardless of my tongue.”

Zhao’s nostrils flared, but he smoothly turned to Azula. “So, Princess,” he said. “How is the hunt for the Avatar going?”

Right at that moment, a large crash rang through the room. Zhao whipped around to see Ty Lee bashfully standing over his felled trophy rack. “Oops,” she said. “My fault entirely.” She inched herself farther and farther away from the fallen weapons, until she was at the wall of the Fire Nation emblem.

Without missing a beat, Azula replied, “We haven’t found him yet.” Zhao smirked in return. 

“Did you really expect to? The Avatar died a hundred years ago along with the rest of the airbenders.”

Azula said nothing, but sipped her tea. She would not give Zhao the satisfaction of knowing that she had found the Avatar and that it was the last airbender to boot. 

“By the way… your hair looks different. Did you cut it?” Zhao asked. 

“I needed a change,” Azula said through her quickly renewed fury. Her hair, one of the most beautiful and perfect things about her, was cut down by a lowly peasant with terrible hair himself. She would never forgive him, ever. And once she captured the Avatar, she would capture that peasant and make him her slave for the rest of his puny life. 

“Back to serious topics,” Zhao said as if he wasn’t the one who curtailed the conversation. “The Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war. If you have found evidence of the Avatar being alive, you are obligated to tell me what you’ve found. That is, if you have an ounce of loyalty left.”

“I haven’t found anything,” Azula stressed. “It’s like you said, the Avatar probably died years ago. Now—“

Azula was cut off by a loud clatter. Everyone whipped around to see Ty Lee standing in front of the fallen, and somehow torn, tapestry of the Fire Nation emblem. She gave a bashful smile with a pretty blush dusting her cheeks. “Oops,” she said.

Zhao growled and tightened his fists. He turned to Ty Lee with a look of utter loathing on his face. “How is it that in the ten minutes you’ve spent here, you’ve managed to destroy all my possessions?”

Ty Lee sniffled and batted her watering eyes. “I was just looking! I didn’t mean to break anything. I haven’t had any sleep because we had to trail the Avatar all day and all night and I’m tired!”

Zhao's eyes widened in shock, but then he smirked nastily. “So, you haven’t found anything, is that right?” He turned to a seething Azula. The princess glared at Ty Lee, then returned her glare to Zhao.

“I don’t owe you anything Zhao. Now I am leaving.” Azula stood up and headed towards the exit, but several soldiers came out of nowhere and barred her path. 

“And to think, I actually believed you, Princess,” Zhao said. 

“What is the meaning of this?” Wei asked. “You can’t keep us here.” 

“You’d be surprised as to what I can do,” Zhao said nastily. “Now,” he said, turning to Ty Lee. “Since you have so much to say, you can tell me what happened when you let the Avatar slip through your fingers.”

* * *

* * *

* * *

“Hey! Who ate all the blubbered seal jerky?” 

“Oh…that was food? I used it to start the campfire last night.”

“You what!? Now I’m gonna starve! Oh La, I’m gonna die!”

Sokka closed his eyes against the dramatics and sighed. Every minute spent in the combined presence of Touya and Aang were grating on his nerves. First, Touya had to take a potty break three minutes after they started flying. Then, Aang saw a leaping wolf-hog, which were just as deadly as they sounded, and he just _had_ to ride it. At first, Sokka was content to let Aang ride it. He wasn’t Aang’s brother, he wasn’t responsible for the little airbender. But then he saw what a leaping wolf-hog really looked like and there was no way Sokka was going to let a twelve year old ride a vicious man-eating animal with tusks and slobbering drool, Avatar or not. Aang could ride the hog monkeys, the hopping llamas, the elephant koi fish, and the legendary man-like bear pigs, but there was no way Aang was going anywhere near a leaping wolf-hog for as long as Sokka breathed. 

So, being the concerned older brother he was, Sokka dragged Aang, kicking and screaming, back to Appa. Suffice to say that the airbender wasn’t pleased. Touya wasn’t either, but the waterbender was used to Sokka being a huge killjoy. For a few days, icy silence settled on Appa’s back. Aang refused to speak to Sokka and Sokka took solace in the silence, leaving Touya feeling antsy and out of place. Eventually the air turned less frigid and the icebergs that were so common in the South Pole were fewer and fewer. Touya had never been so far away from home before and he was excited. His enthusiasm rubbed off on Aang, and soon the both were chattering away as if they were never giving each other the silent treatment. Luckily for Sokka, petty arguments were rare in their small party of three. Touya and Aang never seemed to disagree on anything, but they always seemed to find something to bother Sokka about. He supposed he could be annoyed at how they always double-teamed him, but a big part of him was happy that they were so close after a few weeks. Growing up in the Southern Water Tribe must have been hard on Touya. Sokka was too old to play kid games and the only other boy close to Touya’s age was Senka. Being two years older meant that Senka always tried to act older than he was. Sokka was afraid that his brother would never had time to be a kid and with Aang’s carefree spirit, Sokka was starting to feel like his fears were unfounded.

Sokka opened his eyes and watched his brother and the Avatar tie down Appa’s saddle to the large bison. Everything looked golden and pretty in the soft light of the rising sun, everything except for his sleep-crusted face. Sokka looked at his reflection in the water and scowled. His wolf’s tail was in disarray, sleep was clinging to his eyes and hanging from his nose and his face was set in an ugly scowl. Not even the beautiful bathing light of the dawn could sooth the harsh lines of his face. It was too early for Sokka to be awake. It was too early for anything to be awake and it was all that bald arrow-headed kid’s fault. Of course he was grateful for taking them both out of the village and for taking them to the North Pole. Despite his earlier misgivings, Sokka was starting to believe that Touya needed an instructor, one that actually knew how to waterbend. Aang tried to translate some of his airbending moves to waterbending, but Touya was obviously struggling. The sooner they snagged a waterbending master, the better, but did they have to wake up so early?

“I can’t wait til you see it Touya! The Southern Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!” Aang said in his brightly loud voice. Sokka scowled. 

“It’s been a hundred years!” Sokka spat. “Don’t get your hopes up about a dusty old temple with dusty old monks and dusty old... dust!!”

Touya and Aang both looked at Sokka from their perch on top of Appa. Then they turned back to each other and started chattering again. Sokka’s scowl grew deeper. 

“You know, even if Sokka’s a grumpy jerk in the mornings, he’s right. A lot can change in a hundred years Aang,” Touya said. Those words didn’t seem to deter Aang however.

“I know, but I need to see it for myself. Plus, I haven’t cleaned my room in a hundred years,” Aang noted. “I’m not really looking forward to that.” 

Sokka rolled his eyes. Stupid little kids and their stupid bright eyed and bushy tailed happy expressions and stupid giant flying bisons. Forget being happy about their newfound friendship, Sokka just wanted to go back to sleep. He gathered the two travel packs they brought from home and threw them on top of Appa’s saddle. He kicked dirt into the embers of their fire and caught a small whiff of smoked seal jerky. Sokka sighed and shook his head. That was one other thing to add to growing list of needed supplies. Hopefully the Southern Air Temple might have some food somewhere. The meager supplies he brought from the tribe were only meant for two people for a few days at most and now that their seal jerky was gone, they only had dried sea prunes to eat. “Are you two going to talk all day or can we get going?” Sokka grumbled. 

“What crawled up your tunic and died?” Aang asked. “You seem grumpy.” Sokka whipped his head around and gave Aang a withering glare. “Grumpier than usual,” Aang rectified. 

“So stop talking and let’s go!” Sokka yelled. Touya rolled his eyes and watched Sokka climb onto Appa’s saddle. Aang finished tying the saddle and airbended his way onto Appa's head. With Sokka in his usual spot at the far end of the saddle and Touya at the front, ready to backseat steer, Aang yelled out an "Appa, yip-yip!" and they flew into the air. A comfortable silence settled between the trio as they flew. Sokka sighed and closed his eyes against the gentle breeze that blew against his face. He felt himself being lulled into a tranquil nap. 

He woke up to the smell of cooking fish and a setting sun. They must have landed and caught some fish, but why didn't Touya wake him up? Sokka sat up and untangled himself out of the furs wrapped around his legs. The sky was a deep blue and the moon hung huge and bright. Sokka looked around and saw the fish skewed on a stick and the crackling fire underneath it, but no Aang and no Touya. Sokka looked down to see if Appa was alright, but Sokka only saw the ground. Panic set in, only to be replaced by a cool tranquility that invaded his mind. "Do not fret child, for it is just me," said a voice that sounded familiar and foreign all at once. Sokka turned to see a pair of glowing blue eyes crinkled in a smile. 

“It’s you!” Sokka gasped. The lady smiled widely and nodded. She made her way towards the fire, beckoning Sokka towards her. He got up and took a spot across from her, squirming slightly under her luminescent gaze. “You believed me false,” the lady stated simply. Sokka hung his head in shame. For a long time, Sokka did believe in the lady and her hut, but as he grew older he believed in her less and less. He was out at sea for a week with no food, no fresh water and no furs. He was most likely suffering from dehydration, exposure and starvation when he hallucinated about seeing a lady in a hut in the middle of the ocean. 

“You can’t blame me. The circumstances surrounding our last meeting weren’t the best. I was young and under duress,” Sokka said defensively, crossing his arms across his chest. “And how is this any different? The last thing I remember is falling asleep on Appa, which means that this is either a dream or you’ve done something with my brother and Aang.” The smile on the lady’s face drooped until it was a slight frown. She looked pensive for a few moments before she smiled again. 

“You have become quite the logical man,” she said. “It has served you well, but that logic will cripple you.”

“What do you mean? And don’t think I didn’t notice you evade my question.”

Surprising Sokka, the lady laughed, a tinkling sound, but Sokka noticed something he didn’t when he was six years old. The sound of her laughter was beautiful, but it was tinged with something darker, something more menacing. Suddenly, Sokka remembered Nulia’s warnings about the mysteries of the spirit world. “You aren’t real, are you?”

The lady stopped laughing and gave Sokka a critical look. “I am as real as you are child, but I suspect you already know what I am.”

“You’re a spirit,” Sokka said and the woman nodded. “That means that whole story you gave to me about your children was a lie!”

“No, I have only told you the truth, my son. My children are the ones who bend the water to their will, the children of the icy tundra,” she said coolly. "It was I who taught the children how to bend." 

"You're the moon spirit?" Sokka asked. The lady smiled mysteriously and Sokka gaped. This whole time he had been speaking to the moon spirit and he was being so rude! It was a miracle she didn't smite him on the spot! "Oh, um, sorry for being rude and not believing in you. After a while, I thought you were a dream," he admitted. 

The lady raised her hand and caressed Sokka's face. "There is no need to apologize. It would do you well to be wary of those who reside in the spirit world. Some will try to harm you or trick you, but know this my son; I will never try to harm you for I love you. But we do not have much time." 

"What do you mean? What's happening?" 

"Now that you have awakened the Avatar, there are things in motion that are beyond your comprehension. You must make sure the Avatar learns all the elements." 

"I know that, but what do you mean beyond my comprehension? What is?"

"You will be confronted by strong enemies, both within and outside the spirit world and you will suffer, you will suffer greatly, child. But, if you stick with the Avatar, everything will be alright," the moon spirit said, ignoring Sokka. Her smile was replaced by a tender frown, glowing eyes full of sorrow and love. "I do not want you to suffer. I shall be reprimanded later on, but tell me something. Do you believe in me, even though this is just a dream?" 

Sokka looked at the lady, the moon spirit, who had given him the drive to become a better warrior and saved him when he was young and foolish. Even though he doubted her existence for a time, deep down, Sokka always knew that she was real. "Yeah, I do," he said firmly. The lady smiled again and Sokka thought she looked like his mother, back when they were happy. 

"I hoped you would say that. Now I shall gift you with something that will help in your quest with the Avatar." Sokka blinked and the pretty lady who hadn't aged a day was right in front of him. Her eyes had stopped glowing the deep blue of the ocean and now they were bright like the moon. Her black hair had turned white, braided up and adorned with beads. Her face, still beautiful, was younger and softer. "You will meet this one soon," she whispered and Sokka closed his eyes as cool lips met his own. 

"The Patola Mountain Range! We're almost there!" cried Aang. Sokka opened his eyes, almost expecting to see the luminescent eyes of the Moon Spirit and her ever present smile. Instead he saw Aang bouncing on top of Appa's head, the dark gloom of sky-high mountains and Touya's wide blue eyes staring at him with a worried look. "Are you okay? You kept mumbling in your sleep," he asked. 

Sokka shook his head and gave Touya a tired smile. "I'm okay, I just had a strange dream," Sokka said, still feeling a tingling sensation on his lips. "It was nothing."

Touya nodded, but the worried look was still present as he turned to Aang. 

"I'm worried about him," Touya admitted. "The airbenders are all gone, not on some unexpected vacation to the Earth Kingdom. He doesn't see that."

"He's been stuck in that iceberg for a hundred years," Sokka said, as if that excused anything. 

Touya sighed and crawled towards Appa's head. "Aang, before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you." 

"If this is about the war Touya, you've already told me," Aang said.

"The Fire Nation is ruthless!" Touya exclaimed. "They killed my sister and they probably did the same to your people."

Aang rolled his eyes and gave Touya a look that said 'you've told me this a hundred times and I'm only humoring you at this point'. Touya recognized it immediately, it was a look he often gave Sokka. 

"Just because no one's seen an airbender for a hundred years doesn't mean they're all dead," Aang said hopefully. "They probably all escaped."

"You need to accept this Aang." 

"You don't understand Touya. The only way to get an airbender temple is by flying bison and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison," Aang said. 

Touya frowned and turned to Sokka for support. Sokka shrugged in return and just shook his head. Aang would just have to see the temple for himself. “Hold on!” Aang said. “Appa, yip-yip!” Appa groaned and rose higher and higher. The wind blew with such force that Sokka and Touya had to tightly latch onto Appa’s saddle. With each foot ascended, the wind became stronger and stronger and the Water Tribe siblings clutched on to Appa’s saddle for dear life. Sokka saw his knuckles turn white under his dusky skin. Finally, they reached the top and from over Aang’s head, Sokka could see it. The Southern Air Temple was a mass of spires and zigzagging paths. The stone of the temple was a gleaming white and the tops were the color of a newly dyed parka. “There it is,” Aang said in a breathy reverent voice. “The Southern Air Temple.”

“Wow,” Touya gaped. “Aang, it’s amazing!!” Sokka couldn’t help but agree. The temple was magnificent, much grander than anything in the Southern Water Tribe.

“We’re home, buddy,” Sokka heard Aang say softly. “We’re home.”

* * *

* * *

* * *

“So a twelve year old boy bested you and your firebenders. You’re more pathetic than I thought. And to think, we all regarded you as a prodigy,” Zhao spat in disgust. 

Azula felt her face heat in barely contained rage. “I underestimated him once, but it will not happen again!”

“No it will not,” Zhao scoffed. “Because you won’t have a second chance.”

“WHAT!?” Ty Lee exclaimed. Azula shut the pink-clad girl up with a vicious glare and then turned to Zhao. 

“I have been hunting the Avatar for three years and I—“

“And you failed!” Zhao yelled and sent out a plume of flame. Yu Lee flinched away from the flame and suddenly Wei was in front of her, arms outstretched. “You be careful about where you throw flames Zhao,” Wei growled. “This may be your ship, but I am still your superior.”

Zhao looked at Wei with a sneer, but he reined his temper and took a deep breathe. Azula scowled and wondered how Wei could make people do whatever he wanted with just a look, while Azula had to threaten and yell to get anybody to even look at her. 

“Needless to say, capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in a teenager’s hands. He’s mine now,” Zhao said. Azula’s jaw dropped and she spluttered at Zhao. She jumped out of her chair and pointed a finger at Zhao. 

“You can’t do this! I’ve scoured the world for three years searching for any trace of the Avatar and as soon as he shows up, you decide you can just waltz over and take over my mission?” Azula yelled. With an impassive gaze, Zhao looked at Azula. She was breathing heavily and her eyes were shiny and bright. Zhao smirked. “You’d be surprised at what I can do,” he said nastily. “Keep them here.” 

The soldiers at Zhao's side moved away from him and guarded the perimeter. Zhao strode out of the room, leaving an enraged Azula behind. She yelled and kicked the table over, spilling tea and broken porcelain everywhere. She growled and turned to her friends. "This is all your fault Ty Lee! I told you not to mention the Avatar! And then you went on and blabbed!”

Ty Lee frowned and shrunk back from Azula’s rage. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to tell him,” she whimpered softly. 

“What does that matter now!? Look at where we are now, trapped in Zhao’s stupid ship while he gets to go out and do whatever he wants!” Azula growled in frustration and threw out a bright blue flame. It fell on the overturned table and combusted. Her anger extinguished, Azula fell back into her chair and clutched her right arm.

"Come on 'Zula, it'll be alright," Yu Lee said soothingly, using the princess's childhood nickname. "So what if Zhao knows about the Avatar, he has no idea where to go. If he really wants to find the Avatar, he'll have to let us go."

"Yu Lee, be quiet, I’m thinking,” Azula said. Silence fell over the room as Azula pondered. Suddenly, she snapped her dingers. “Even if Zhao knows about the Avatar, he can’t do anything! We know where the Avatar is headed and we can track him, so Zhao has to let us go so he can follow us to the Avatar!" Azula finished triumphantly. 

"You're so smart Azula!" Ty Lee squealed. Wei gaped and gave Yu Lee an incredulous look. "But, Yuta, that was your—you said—" 

Yu Lee shook her head and hushed Wei. "This is how we come up with plans Wei." Wei ran a hand through his impressive hair and sighed.

"You girls are crazy," he muttered with fondness. Soon the four fell into a comfortable silence, or as comfortable as they could get while being held captive by Commander Zhao. Azula’s thoughts kept turning back to the peasants tagging behind the Avatar and how the fight on her ship didn't add up. 

"Wei," she said. "How many waterbenders are in the South Pole?" 

"There shouldn't be any," Ty Lee said. "Your grandfather got rid of them all."

"But ice was on the deck after the Avatar left and some of my men were frozen."

"The Avatar can waterbend, that's not too strange, " Wei replied. "You're thinking too hard Azula." But Azula wasn't convinced. Something was off and it stunk like the peasant who cut her hair. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Sokka thought he was in pretty decent shape. He hunted, he practiced fighting and he tended to do a lot of running, usually after Touya. But walking up the long and winding path of the Southern Air Temple was grueling. Aang and Touya were far ahead of him, racing to see which one could make it to the top first. Keeping Sokka company was Appa, with the large bison plodding once for every three steps Sokka took. The warrior was glad for the silent understanding Appa gave him. "I know I'm probably the first outsider in a hundred years to see an air temple, but I need some food," Sokka said pitifully. Appa groaned in agreement. "You know, that's what I like about you Appa. Touya and Aang have their magical bending hoo-ha, but not us. We're just simple guys with simple needs." Appa rumbled in agreement and Sokka thought the bison even nodded. 

The unlikely twosome continued to plod up the path, eventually catching up to the other two members of their group. “So that’s where my friends and I would play airball,” Aang said to Touya, pointing to a small plot of rocky land covered in tall poles. “And over there is where the bison would sleep… and…” Aang trailed off with a sigh. Although Sokka could only see the back of his bald head, he could tell when Aang’s shoulders slumped. “What’s wrong?” Sokka asked. 

“This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now…now there’s just a bunch of weeds,” Aang said sadly. He looked around, searching for any sign of the life he left behind. “I can’t believe how much things have changed.” 

In that moment, Aang looked so sad and so lost and Sokka was struck with sympathy. He exchanged a glance with Touya before cheerfully saying, “So, this airball game. How do you play?”

Sokka quickly learned that airball was a lot like a Southern Water Tribe game called ‘Dodge the Rotting Seal Intestines.’ In that game, two groups of people would throw around a ball packed with rotting seal intestines and whoever got hit with it was out of the game, and thrown into the nearest vat of soapy water. There were a few key differences, such as the ball was a wooden thing thrown with airbending, there were two opposing goal posts for points, the players had to balance precariously on the wooden poles and Sokka was losing terribly. Sokka watched as Aang did a lot of showboating with the ball, most likely to impress Touya, and kicked the ball towards him with a burst of airbending. The ball hit several poles in quick succession and Sokka sighed while bracing himself for impact. He shut his eyes as the ball hit him right in the gut and he felt himself fly through the goal and land right in the snow. Aang’s laughter echoed through the mountains. “Aang: Seven, Sokka: Zero,” he said. 

In the snow, Sokka groaned. “Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt,” he said. Touya softly giggled. Fighting against the pain in his abdomen, Sokka dragged himself upwards, but stopped suddenly when his eyes caught a glimpse of something red. He crawled towards the small point poking out of the snow and dug it out. His eyes widened. “Touya, check this out,” he whispered. Touya bounded over, but stopped short once he saw the Fire Nation helmet. It looked old and rusty and it was covered in dirt and cracked in several places, but there was no mistaking it.

“We should tell him,” Touya said. “Aang! Come over here!” 

Sokka looked at the helmet and looked at the exuberant young airbender. Aang looked so happy, much happier than he did before and Sokka didn’t want to get rid of that expression. Sokka quickly reburied the helmet under the snow before Aang breathlessly approached them. “What is it?”

“We found this—wait where did it go?” Touya asked. He looked around wildly for the helmet and frowned when he didn’t find. Aang raised his eyebrow at Touya and gave his friend a skeptical look. 

“Uh…okay. Enough messing around, let’s go, we have a whole temple to see!” Aang said before running off. Touya turned to pout at Sokka. “Why’d you do that?” Touya asked.

Sokka shrugged. “Let him enjoy this for as long as he can,” he said, before getting up and following Aang towards the temple. Touya’s brow furrowed, but soon Touya was following his brother and Aang. The airbender led the Water Tribe siblings to a large courtyard with a fountain in it. The water inside the fountain was frozen solid, and Touya ran to it and waved his hands above it. Sokka watched Touya try to waterbend the ice, but judging by the increasing frustration on Touya’s face, it wasn’t working. Sokka rolled his eyes and approached Touya. 

“You can’t protect him from the truth forever Sokka,” Touya said. “That’s why you told me about Katara right? So I could be prepared for the real world. You have to do the same with Aang. Why aren’t you?” Sokka didn’t say anything and crossed his arms. Touya sighed and let his arms drop to his sides. “Firebenders were here, you can’t pretend they weren’t.”

“I can for Aang’s sake. He’s not like you Touya, if Aang finds out that the Fire Nation invaded his home, he’ll be devastated,” Sokka said. “Besides, we’ve tried to tell him again and again. If he doesn’t believe it now than he won’t.”

Touya frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but Aang’s loud voice cut him off. “Hey you guys!” The two siblings turned to see Aang waving them towards a statue of a kind and wise looking old monk. “I want you to meet somebody!” Sokka and Touya walked towards Aang and the statue, but Sokka was hit with a sudden realization. Where did Appa go? Sokka turned and looked, but saw no sign of the giant bison. Sokka wanted to ask where the beast went, but Aang looked like he was about to burst about the statue.

“Who’s that?” Touya asked. 

“Monk Gyasto! He’s the greatest airbender in the world,” Aang said while deeply bowing to the statue. “He taught me everything I know and he was always helping me…” Aang turned and looked at the statue. “He liked making fruit cakes with gooey centers. Whenever I was sad, he’d take me to the tallest tower to make them. Once they were ready, we would use airbending to push them onto people’s heads.” Aang chuckled. “We did that a lot. When the monks told me I was the Avatar, Monk Gyasto was the one who made me feel better.” 

“You must miss him,” Sokka said, putting his hand on Aang’s shoulder. The airbender nodded and looked at his mentor’s likeness with longing. 

“Yeah…” Aang said sadly. He waved Sokka’s hand away and started heading away. Touya blinked with large eyes.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I’m going to the Air Temple Sanctuary. Monk Gyasto said that someone would be waiting for me once I was ready. I think I’m ready.”

Touya gave Sokka a confused look, but Sokka just shrugged in return. The two followed Aang towards a large door with coiling metal pipes. The pipes were a faded blue and coiled in the emblem of the Air Nomads. Despite being over a hundred years old and suffering a Fire Nation invasion, the sanctuary looked just that; serene and untouched. It looked like no one had even been in this part of the temple in a hundred years.

“The Air Temple Sanctuary is cool and all, but no one could have survived in there for a hundred years,” Touya said. 

“It’s not impossible, I survived for a hundred years,” Aang replied.

“Yeah, in an iceberg!” Touya said. Sokka put his hand on Touya’s shoulder. 

“He’s got a point,” Sokka said. 

Touya pouted and crossed his arms. “But it’s not a good point!!”

“Yeah it is,” Aang shot back. “Besides Touya, whoever’s in there might be able to tell me about being the Avatar. And that’s more important than arguing about the specifics of surviving in an iceberg for a hundred years.”

“He’s got a point,” Sokka repeated dryly. Touya scowled and pushed his brother away before stomping off towards the giant door.

“Fine, whatever!” Touya stopped right in front of the door and roughly banged on it. “HEY, OPEN UP!! COME AND TEACH AANG HOW TO BE THE AVATAR!”

“I don’t think that’s how you do it Touya,” Sokka said. Despite Touya’s loud pounding on the door, there was no answer and the whole temple was still. Sokka turned to see Aang’s amused face. “I don’t suppose you have a key?”

Aang gave Sokka a cheeky grin. “The key is airbending!”

Sokka rolled his eyes and watched as Aang shooed Touya away from the door. The airbender fell into an airbending pose and took a deep breath. With a mighty thrust of his arms, Aang sent two strong air currents into the openings of the metal pipes. With a loud creaking, the blue pipes emitted a whistling sound and whipped around, showing a purple side. The pipes unlocked, and the doors slowly creaked open. 

“Hello? Anyone home?” Aang asked as he and the Water Tribe siblings walked through the newly opened Air Temple Sanctuary. The air inside the sanctuary was still and the only light in the room came from the opened doors. As Sokka peered into the darkness, he thought he saw something peer back at him, but the feeling was quickly gone. Sokka turned his head and looked into the blank eyes of a stone statue. Further inspection revealed that there were dozens, if not hundreds of statues in the room, all of men and women of various Nations and sizes. 

“Statues? That’s it?” Touya asked. “Where’s the guy!?”

“Who are all these people?” Sokka asked, gazing at the likeness of a tall Water Tribe man in a wolf helmet. 

“I don’t know,” Aang replied. “But…it feels like I know them somehow.”

“Hey, this one is an airbender!” Touya said, pointing to a tall tattooed man to Aang’s right. 

“And this one is a waterbender,” Aang pointed to the one that had captivated Sokka’s attention. The seventeen year old looked at the airbender statue, the waterbender one beside it and the ones next to that one. Following the waterbender was an earthbender, or what Sokka assumed was an earthbender, considering he had never seen one before, and the final statue was a firebender, topknot and pointy clothes striking even though they were made out of stone. 

“They’re lined up in a pattern. Air, water, earth and fire. Isn’t that the order you need to learn the elements, Aang?” Sokka said.

Aang nodded. “It’s the Avatar Cycle.”

“They’re Avatars!!!” Touya gasped as he looked at the statues with wide eyes. 

“Of course,” Sokka realized. “These are your past lives, Aang.” Aang’s eyes brightened and he wandered off to the most recent-looking statue. Touya gave Sokka a confused look.

“Past lives?” he asked. Sokka nodded. 

“When the Avatar dies, his soul is reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle. It’s to keep balance and prevent one nation from becoming too powerful.” Sokka turned to Aang, who was gazing at the statue of an imposing firebender. “That must be the Avatar before Aang,” Sokka murmured to Touya, only to see his brother incessantly poking Aang. 

“Aang! Snap out of it,” Touya said with an especially hard poke. Aang blinked and rubbed his red cheek. “Who is that?” the young waterbender asked. 

“That’s Avatar Roku. He was the Avatar before me,” Aang replied. Sokka rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to smack his forehead. If Touya had paid any attention, he would have already known that. 

“But there’s no writing,” Touya pointed out. “How do you know his name?”

Aang shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just know it somehow.”

“Thanks for the informative answer Aang,” Sokka said dryly.

“You’re welcome!”

Sokka smacked his forehead. He opened his mouth, but was startled when a loud whistling sound reverberated through the sanctuary. Sokka saw movement out of the corner of his eye and whipped around, unsheathing the trusty machete he kept tucked under his parka. Sokka pushed Aang and Touya behind the statue of an earthbender, while he ducked behind a waterbender. “Hush, no one make a sound,” Sokka whispered. 

“You’re making a sound!” Touya retorted, only to be hushed by both his companions. Sokka watched the shadow grow longer and longer, with the narrow horns on the firebender’s helmet growing more and more elongated. With a steady resolve, Sokka jumped from behind the waterbender, only to be greeted with a trilling purr. In front of him was the strangest little creature he had ever seen. The thing’s body was mostly white, with a brown face, gigantic ears and large green eyes. It actually reminded him of Touya. Noticing the lack of battle sounds, Touya and Aang peeked from behind their statue to see the creature. 

“LEMUR!” Aang yelled, running after it. “YOU’RE GONNA BE MY NEW PET!” The creature blinked, watching Aang run towards it, before hissing and running off. Sokka thought he heard the poor thing let out a death screech. 

“I want to chase the lemur too!” Touya pouted. “Wait up Aang!” Touya chased after Aang with a speed unexpected from his chubby frame. Sokka heard the two grunting and laughing throughout the hall, with the screeches of the creature echoing through the sanctuary. Sokka sighed and sent a quick prayer to the Moon Spirit for the wellbeing of the lemur. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

The first thing Azula saw when she opened her eyes was Zhao’s haughty sideburned face. He looked smug, disgustingly smug and Azula hoped he’d lose all of his hair in a freak firebending accident. “My search party is ready,” Zhao said. “Once I’m out to see, my guards will escort you back to your ship and you’ll be free to go.” 

“Why?” Azula asked petulantly. “You worried I’ll try and stop you?”

Zhao burst into laughter, causing Azula’s annoyance to be replaced with rage. “You? Stop me? Impossible.”

“Don’t underestimate me, Zhao!” Azula snarled. “I will capture the Avatar before you and I will have my honor restored. And once that happens, I hope you’re used to kneeling.”

Wei spit out his tea and doubled over in laughter. Azula, startled, looked at Wei with astonishment. Wei continued to laugh, until he fell out of his chair. With tears falling down his face, he clutched his stomach. Azula looked at Ty Lee, who had turned a bright shade of pink and was failing at concealing her giggles. Commander Zhao had turned a splotchy red that seemed to turn even splotcher and even redder the longer Wei and Ty Lee laughed. “Um…what did I say?” Azula whispered to Yu Lee. The shorter girl just shook her head and patted Azula’s head. 

“I’ll tell you once you’re older,” Yu Lee whispered, much to Azula’s chagrin. 

“I’m older than you are!” Azula said loudly. Yu Lee just shook her head and graced Azula with a rare smile. Yu Lee looked as if she was going to say more, but Zhao cleared his throat. His face had returned to a normal color and he seemed to regain his composure. The fact that Wei’s laughter had died down and the senior Commander was clutching his stomach had probably helped Zhao regain his composure. 

“You can’t compete with me,” Zhao said. “I have hundreds of warships under my command, and you… You’re just a banished princess. No home, no allies, your own mother doesn’t even want you.”

“You’re wrong. Once I deliver the Avatar to my uncle, he’ll welcome me home with honor. Everyone will, you’ll see,” Azula said in a steady, yet fragile sounding, voice. 

“If your uncle really wanted you home, he would have let you return by now, Avatar or no. In his eyes, no, in the eyes of your entire family, you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation. You have the—“ 

“Don’t you think that’s enough?”

Zhao turned to look at Yu Lee with a snarl. “I think you should stay out of it. This is _Fire Nation_ business.”

“You’re the one arguing with a fourteen year old girl. I hardly think that’s Fire Nation business,” Yu Lee said coldly. “You may be a commander now Zhao, but you need to _remember your place._ ” 

“I hardly think I should take orders from someone like you! You’re just as dishonorable as the ‘princess’ you blindly follow, but what else should I expect from a Wairen,” Zhao spat.

“That’s not true!” Azula cried. “Shut your mouth!”

“Make me,” Zhao said. 

“Agni Kai!” Azula yelled, causing the rest of the tent to fall into silence. 

“Azula—“ Yu Lee started, but Azula cut her off. 

“At sunset,” Azula finished. Zhao smirked.

“Very well,” he said, turning to leave. Before he exited the tent, he stopped and looked back. “It’s a shame your parents won’t be here to see me humiliate you,” Zhao said with a face full of mock pity. “I’m sure your uncle would love to see it. Oh well, I guess your ragtag group will do.” With that he left, leaving a stewing Azula in his wake. 

“Are you sure about this Azula?” Wei asked.

“Yeah,” Ty Lee agreed. “Have you forgotten the last time you’ve dueled a master?” Her gaze lingered on Azula.

“I will never forget,” Azula said, rubbing her arms. From the ground, Wei gave Azula an indescribable look.

“I hope you know what you’re doing Azula,” Wei said. “An Agni Kai is serious business and you shouldn’t be flippantly challenging people to them. Especially not someone like Zhao. You know who taught him firebending, don’t you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Azula said. “I can handle it. I can handle him. Zhao isn’t all that tough.” 

“I hope you’re right,” Yu Lee said, clutching a chain around her neck. Azula had never seen Yu Lee so worried before, but she pushed that thought out of her mind. She was going to win her Agni Kai. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Although it took a backseat to providing for the tribe and making sure Touya didn’t accidently reveal his bending, Sokka was very interested in history. When he was younger, he always asked Nulia to tell him the stories her uncle told her. When he became older, then he would ask his Gran-Gran about life before the war. Seeing all of the past Avatars was awe-inspiring for Sokka. His eyes fell on Avatar Roku, seeing the man who disappeared when the war started. From what he heard from his Gran-Gran, Avatar Roku could have stopped the war, but he vanished. Sokka didn’t know a lot about the exact timeline of the war, but Avatar Roku must have met a terrible fate, that was just the feeling he got. And Sokka was starting to put a lot more faith in his feelings after talking with the Moon Spirit. When he really concentrated, he still felt the cool tingle of her lips. As he gazed at Avatar Roku, the statue’s eyes flickered and then glowed with a blue light. Sokka’s eyes widened as the eyes of every single Avatar glowed with the same blue light. Sokka had seen that light before and it filled him with dread. She swirled around and ran out of the Air Temple Sanctuary. He ran out the hall his brother, Aang and the lemur were in not that long ago. He ran outside and wildly looked around for the two younger members of his group. Suddenly Sokka felt a huge gust of wind and looked to see a maelstrom of air coming from a small, run down shack.

He ran towards it and saw Touya cowering behind a large slab of rock. “Touya!!” Sokka called through the storm. “What happened!?”

Touya was whimpering and tears clung to his eyes. “Touya!!”

“Firebenders and bones,” Touya cried, letting the tears fall. “They killed Gyasto and Aang….he’s being scary Sokka.” Touya rubbed at his eyes, but only started crying harder. 

“No…This is what I wanted to prevent!” Sokka yelled. “It must have triggered his Avatar Spirit. Touya, stay here. I’m going to try to calm him down.”

“Sokka no!” Touya grabbed onto Sokka’s sleeve. “He’s gonna blow you off the mountain. You can’t!”

“Touya, stay here and hang on to that rock, okay?” Sokka asked, gently putting Touya’s hand back onto the stone slab. Sokka left the safety of the rock and was hit by a strong current of air. He skidded back a few feet, before regaining his footing and heading towards Aang yet again. The airbender was incased in a swirling ball of air, with tendrils flailing out and destroying the crumbling Air Temple. “AANG!” Sokka yelled. The airbender did not react, he only rose into the air. As Aang rose higher and higher, the winds grew stronger and stronger. Sokka couldn’t keep his footing anymore and he was blown back into another crumbling slab.

“Aang, I know you’re upset,” Sokka said as he grabbed the edge of the slab for support. “I know how hard it is to lose the people you love. I went through the same thing when I lost Katara. Monk Gyasto and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family! It took me a long time to realize this, but Touya and I, we’re your family now.”

Slowly, the winds grew weaker and weaker, until they stopped. Aang descended back to earth, but the tattoos were still glowing. With the threat of being blown off the temple gone, both Sokka and Touya popped out of their hiding spots and approached their friend. 

“Don’t worry Aang, Sokka and I aren’t gonna let anything happen to you,” Touya hiccupped. “Promise.” With a watery smile, Touya took Aang’s hand. The glow slowly faded from Aang’s eyes and tattoos and the boy slowly fell to the ground. Both siblings rushed to break his fall and soon all three of them were on the ground. 

“I’m sorry,” Aang said weakly. Sokka shook his head.

“Don’t apologize,” Sokka said. “It’s not your fault.”

“It’s okay,” Touya agreed. 

“But you were right,” Aang said sadly. “If the firebenders found this temple, that means they found the other ones too….I really am the last airbender.” Aang closed his eyes, and slowly the boy started to cry. Soon his silent tears became wracking sobs, and the water tribe siblings held Aang close as he fell apart. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Ty Lee could see the agitation in the air almost as clearly as she saw the blood red sun setting. To her right, her sister was kneading the jewel in her necklace. An old childhood habit Ty Lee had seen a lot, but as the years went on, her sister had become more and more confident and she hadn’t seen Yu Lee do that in a long time. The last time was when…

“Remember the basics, Princess Azula,” Wei said, taking his place in front of Azula. The princess was kneeling on the ground, with the ceremonial red cloak around her shoulders. While Zhao was shirtless, the proper attire for an Agni Kai, but only for men. Azula was wearing a black sleeveless t-shirt, which showed off arm, bandaged from fingers to shoulder. Both Zhao and Azula were wearing the standard poofy firebending pants, also in black. Ty Lee always wondered why firebending pants were poofy, if firebenders didn’t want them to catch on fire. Ty Lee and Yu Lee wore poofy pants, in pink and maroon of course, because they were cute and stylish, but they weren’t firebenders. Poofy pants were very easy to move around in and it made chi-blocking easy. 

“I refuse to let him win,” Azula said, snapping Ty Lee out of her rambling thoughts. The princess stood and faced Zhao with a determined look on her face. 

“This will be over quickly,” Zhao said, facing Azula with a cocky look. Both combatants fell into a firebending pose and a loud gong reverberated through the air. From the few Agni Kais that she had seen, Ty Lee knew the fight had just begun. For a few moments, the two just stared at each other, before Azula suddenly punched a stream of fire towards Zhao. Zhao sidestepped lazily, avoiding each stream of fire like he was dancing. Albeit, dancing very stiffly and not very gracefully at all. Ty Lee wasn’t a very good dancer, but Su Lee was and so was Yu Lee. Ty Lee was really good at doing flips and touching her nose with her toes, but Su Lee and Yu Lee were so graceful. They moved like a gently swaying breeze, like currents in a stream, like the slow but elegant crawl of molten lava. 

With every burst of flame sent his way, Zhao casually deflected it time and time again. Barely five minutes into the Agni Kai, and Azula was already panting of exertion. Seeing that Azula was getting weaker, Zhao sent his own punch of fire and smirked as Azula blocked it. He sent out another and again, Azula blocked it. At the third fire stream, Yu Lee was highly agitated. 

“Use the basics Azula!! Break his root!” her sister yelled, raising her voice. Ty Lee was a little shocked, Yu Lee never rose her voice, at least not when talking to Azula. Azula looked back, but it was too late. The fourth fire punch stream of doom had caught her off guard and Azula fell hard into the dirt. With a yell, Zhao jumped and landed right in front of Azula. With an evil smirk, Zhao sent one last punch of flame, right towards Azula’s face. Ty Lee knew she was not the only one who saw Azula freeze. Ty Lee knew that the fear and shock in Azula’s eyes were not tricks of the flames. In a split second, everything changed. Azula did some weird flippy-dippy move and suddenly Zhao was on the ground! All Ty Lee saw was a bunch of leg flailing and BOOM! Zhao was on the ground and Azula was standing over him! There was a smirk on Azula’s face as she kicked out a wave of flame. Zhao stumbled back unsteadily as several fire waves headed right for his feet. Zhao stumbled even harder and Azula saw her chance, with several well placed fire kicks, Zhao was on the ground in no time, clutching his arm. 

And suddenly, their positons were reversed. Azula was on top, flames on her fist, while Zhao was looking on in shock and fear. “Do it!” Zhao taunted and Azula sent out a ball of fire. But instead of hitting Zhao’s face, like he would have done for her, Azula punched the fire beyond his head. “That’s it?” Zhao said, sounding like he was the winner. “Your father raised a coward.” 

Azula bared her teeth, but took a deep breath and looked at Zhao steadily. “Next time you get in my way, I promise I won’t hold back,” she said. At that, she coolly turned away and headed back towards Ty Lee and the rest of her friends. A small smile was on her face, but Ty Lee was far more concerned with Zhao. The man had gotten up and with a yell, he kicked a burst of fire towards Azula’s back. Ty Lee rushed to stop him, but Yu Lee was too fast. She doused the fire and grabbed Zhao’s foot. He looked shocked and angry before Yu Lee roughly let go of his foot and jabbed his leg. Zhao stumbled and collapsed under his own weight. Azula, realizing what had happened too late, turned around and lunged at Zhao, but Wei stopped her.

“No Princess, don’t taint your victory,” he said. Wei turned to Zhao and sneered. “So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts after a defeat? Disgraceful.” In return, Zhao growled. “Even in exile, Azula is more honorable than you. But thank you for your hospitality.”

“Yeah,” Azula snickered. “Thanks for the tea. It was delicious.” Azula turned to leave and dragged Yu Lee and Wei with her. With a smile, Ty Lee skipped behind the other three. 

“Hey, did you really mean that?” Ty Lee asked.

“Of course Ty Lee,” Azula said. “Matcha is my favorite.”

Ty Lee rolled her eyes and let out a giggle. Things were okay again, until they started looking for the Avatar again. But Ty Lee would take joy in the small things.

* * *

* * *

* * *

“Alright Aang, everything’s packed,” Sokka said. “Ready to go?” Aang shook his head. Sokka should have known; after finding Appa, who had mysteriously disappeared for the whole day, Sokka combed the entire temple looking for Aang. Finally, he found Aang staring at the statue of Avatar Roku in the Air Temple Sanctuary. 

“How is Avatar Roku supposed to help me if I can’t talk to him?” Aang sounded worried, but Sokka put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“You’ll find a way,” Sokka said. “Maybe he’ll come to you in your dreams.”

Aang nodded but gave a deep sigh. They headed towards Touya, who had been standing in the entryway, but Aang suddenly stopped. The lemur had returned, and its arms were full of what looked like berries. The lemur dropped a few fruits in front of Touya, which the waterbender hastily shoved in his mouth. “Looks like you made a new friend, Touya,” Aang said.

“Can’t talk, eating.”

Aang giggled and watched the lemur hop towards him and Sokka, and dropping the remainder in front of them. Sokka picked them up and the lemur clambered to the top of Aang’s bald head. “Hey little guy,” Aang said. The lemur trilled in return. The four of them headed towards the airball court, where Appa was waiting. It seemed like such a long time ago that Sokka was getting thrown around by a ball of air. Sokka felt like he aged three years in one day. “You, me and Appa… we’re all that’s left of this place. We have to stick together,” Aang said to the lemur. “Sokka, Touya, say hello to the newest member of our family.”

“What are you going to name him?” Touya asked. The lemur looked at the packs and jumped onto them. With a few purrs, the lemur grabbed a peach and started nibbling on it.

“Momo!” Aang said and they all laughed. Even after everything, after the crazy firebending lady, after the Avatar State, after Katara, Sokka finally had a family he could call his own. One he felt like he truly belonged in. A family. That’s what they were. He, Aang, Touya, Appa and Momo. They were all a family now and Sokka would do everything he could to protect that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So far I'm really liking my monthly update schedule. Let's hope this works out cause it's been working out the past three chapters. Originally this chapter was supposed to span both "The Southern Air Temple" and "The Warriors of Kyoshi," but by the time I finished with the air temple, this chapter was already 20 pages. I figured I could afford to split off the Kyoshi part and stick it into chapter 8. So how did you guys like this chapter? Zhao finally makes his appearance and he's just as much as an ass as he was in the series! It seems like he has some sort of rivalry with Wei, I wonder what happened.... But more importantly, we finally meet Momo!! I know this is the moment you've all been waiting for and I'm glad we've finally gotten to this point. Momo is an important part of Team Avatar. 
> 
> I have several questions too, starting with who is your favorite OC so far and who would you like to see more of? At this point in the story, the most important OCs are Touya and Wei, but we also have Senka, Hanna, Nulia, Masako and Lady Tai. Some of these people didn't get much characterization, but I'm thinking that I might start writing a little miniseries about events that happened before the story, after the story, or just things that got cut out. What do you guys think? Would you be interested in reading it? As always, thank you so much for reading and hopefully I'll see you again next month!
> 
> PS. I really like the name of this chapter. I think it might be the pinnacle of my punny nature. Don't expect anymore like this


	8. Old Friends

“You have no idea where you’re going, do you?” Sokka said with a sigh.

“I know it’s near water,” Aang offered helpfully. Sokka looked at the ocean they were currently in the middle of.

“I guess we’re getting close then,” Sokka said dryly. 

“Really!?” Touya said, sitting up abruptly and looking over Appa’s saddle. “I don’t see anything.”

Sokka sighed and smacked his forehead. “That was sarcasm Touya.”

Touya frowned and gave Sokka a glare before lying back down. Sokka wished he could relax, but someone had to be the voice of reason. Aang was too breezy, and Touya was content to follow the little airbender to the ends of the earth. Between the two of them, they would frolic without a care in the world, leaving behind a trail of ripped clothes that strangely intense Fire Nation girl would follow. Sokka didn’t want that to happen, so he was mending Touya’s torn pants. He didn’t understand how his little brother managed to nearly tear off a leg off of his pants between riding the hopping llamas and the hog monkeys. Sokka squinted at his uneven stitches and scowled. If only Nulia were here, she’d show Sokka how to make even stitches. Sokka glanced up and saw Aang intently looking at the top of Touya’s head. Something went off in the airbender’s brain and he quickly turned to Momo.

"Momo, marbles please,” Aang asked the lemur. Momo twittered before diving into Aang’s shirt and handing him something. “Hey, Touya, check out this airbending trick!” Aang held his hands together and spun two small swirling air marbles. Sokka was impressed, but he had to admit that Aang had a habit of impressing him. 

“That’s great Aang,” Touya said blandly, still gazing at the sky.

Aang let his hands drop and pouted. “But you didn’t even look.”

With great effort, Touya lifted his head off of Appa’s saddles and turned towards Aang. “That’s great Aang,” Touya repeated with just a hint more enthusiasm. 

“But I’m not doing it now.”

“Okay.” And with a plop, Touya lied back down.

Sokka rolled his eyes. “Don’t mind him, Aang,” Sokka said. He couldn’t stand to see the dejected look on Aang’s face. “Your trick was really cool.”

Aang perked up and gave Sokka a bright smile. Sokka returned the smile and resumed stitching Touya’s pants. Eventually Sokka finished mending Touya’s pants and looked at his handiwork. The stitches were crooked, but once Touya put them on, nobody would notice.

“Alright Touya, your pants are fixed,” Sokka said, throwing the pants at Touya’s face. Touya grabbed the pants and without getting up, Touya impressively shimmied his pants back on. All of the sudden, Appa lurched to the left and Sokka had to hold on to Appa’s saddle to stay on. For a moment, Touya was suspended in the air before Sokka grabbed his leg and yanked him back down to Appa. “Aang, what are you doing!?” Sokka yelled to Aang, but the wind swallowed up his words and the only response he heard was Aang’s whoops of joy. 

Sokka peeked over Appa’s saddle and saw the impassive sea grow larger and larger. And then, just as suddenly as the lurch started, Appa suddenly stopped, just skimming the ocean and continued to fly. “WHAT WAS THAT AANG!? I COULD HAVE FELL!” Touya yelled. 

“Relax Touya,” Aang said. “Look at where we are!” Aang pointed and the water tribe siblings looked in the same direction. They saw a small island covered with snow-capped mountains. 

“Where are we?” Touya asked. Sokka took out a map and glanced at it. He had marked off the small islands they had already visited, and the South Pole was easily identifiable. But there were dozens of small islands off the northeastern coast of the Southern Water Tribe.

“I have no idea,” Sokka said bluntly. Sokka looked and saw Aang intently looking at the small island. “Aang, we took a pit stop yesterday. Let’s get a little more flying done before we camp out.”

Aang ignored Sokka and landed Appa on the snowy banks of the island. The airbender leaped off of Appa and headed towards the shore. Sokka and Touya climbed off the large bison and Appa clambered to Aang’s side. 

“Come on Aang,” Touya whined. “At this rate, we won’t get to the North Pole until spring!”

“But Appa’s tired already. Aren’t you boy?” Aang said. Appa huffed in disagreement. “I said, aren’t you boy?” Aang repeated and in return, Appa let out a grumbling yawn that was obviously fake. Touya scowled. 

“Real convincing Appa,” Touya accused. Appa groaned and flopped to the ground with a lackadaisical look. The two engaged in a battle of wills, visible only through their passionate eyes. There was no way Touya was going to lose this monumental conflict with a ten-ton magical monster. But Appa was the undisputed champion and his flames of bisonly youth were too much for the waterbender to bear. “Okay, okay, I’ll rub your chin,” Touya sighed while scratching Appa’s chin. The bison groaned loudly and even seemed to smile. Sokka blinked as he tried to process what he just witnessed. Then he closed his eyes and sighed. He wasn’t even going to try to understand. He opened his eyes and saw Aang watching the shore, eyes seeking out something that he didn’t care much about. Suddenly Aang found what he was looking for and pointed towards the ocean.

“Look!” Aang cried. Touya and Sokka looked and they saw a huge fish jump thirty feet into the air and fall back in with a large splash. Sokka’s mouth dropped open and Touya’s eyes grew even wider. “That’s why we’re here,” Aang said, taking off his clothes, much to Touya’s embarrassment. “That’s an elephant koi and I’m gonna ride it.”

Touya’s face brightened and he turned to Sokka. The withering glare on Sokka’s face made the request die on Touya’s lips and the waterbender crossed his arms and pouted. “I can’t ride it Aang,” Touya mumbled sullenly.

The airbender didn’t look too perturbed by the lack of a riding buddy. “That’s okay, Touya. You have to watch me!” With that, Aang relieved himself of all of his clothes except for a pair of dull orange briefs and ran into the ocean. “Cold!” Aang cried before diving into the ocean. 

Sokka blinked slowly and sighed. Touya still looked upset at not being able to ride the elephant koi and was still pouting. Sokka rolled his eyes and watched Aang dive into a deeper looking part of the ocean. A few seconds passed before Aang appeared again, with an elephant koi under his feet and a fin clutched in his hands. Earlier surliness all but forgotten, Touya was ecstatic. “Wow Aang!” he cried, waving to his friend and grinning widely. “He looks pretty good out there, doesn’t he?” Touya asked Sokka.

Sokka shrugged. “I guess. I don’t see why he has to do all these dangerous stunts,” Sokka sighed. “Who is he trying to impress?”

Touya shrugged and then joined Momo in jumping up and down and cheering Aang on. Sokka shook his head. Not only did the lemur appear out of nowhere, Appa was no longer on the shore. Sokka looked around and wondered how a ten ton bison managed to disappear, not once, not twice, but every single time Sokka managed to look away. A groan reached his ears and Sokka turned to see Appa trying to chew on some rocks. “For the love of—Appa, don’t eat that!” Sokka ran off and grabbed Appa’s reins and yanked him away from the rocks. Appa didn’t budge.

“Take the rock out of your mouth,” Sokka demanded. Appa groaned and gave Sokka a look, a look that Sokka saw regularly on Touya. The look that haunted Sokka’s dreams and his waking moments. That look that said ‘I know what you’re saying and I recognize it, but I’m not going to do what you say because shut up.’ Sokka was very familiar with that look. “I thought we were friends, Appa.”

The bison groaned and continued to chew on the rocks. Sokka scowled and stuck his hand into Appa’s mouth. Appa rumbled out a complaint, but he opened his mouth and let Sokka take the rocks out of his mouth. “This is your fault you know,” Sokka mumbled. “You’re over a hundred years old, you should know better! I bet you aren’t even hungry.” 

Appa spit out the rest of the rocks and Sokka’s arm, but then he turned and tore a small tree out by the roots. Sokka sighed and hit his forehead with his palm. “You’re doing this on purpose aren’t you?” 

“There’s something in the water! Sokka!!” Touya’s distressed voice reached his brother’s ears. Sokka sighed and narrowed his eyes at Appa.

“Spit it out. We aren’t done yet,” Sokka said before running back towards the beach. “What’s wrong?”

“Aang’s in trouble! Aang!” Touya cried, jumping up and down and waving his arms. Momo was doing the same, chattering excitedly. 

“Get back here!” Sokka cried. Aang met their gazes and he gave them a big grin before lurching off the elephant koi fish. Sokka watched in horror as the fish was dragged under the ocean’s surface. A large fin jutted out of the water, mimicking Aang’s. The water tribe siblings watched in shock as Aang saw the fin and scrambled away. With a speed that could only be augmented by airbending, Aang ran (Sokka would wonder how exactly Aang was able to run on water), barely escaping the fin and whatever deadly creature it was attached to. Aang spiraled out of control once he hit solid land and collided right into Sokka. Sokka let out a grunt as they both hit the tree and let out a soft wheeze. Aang jumped up, seemingly not hurt at all and started pulling on his clothes. 

“What was that thing!?” Touya asked.

“I dunno,” Aang replied with a nonchalance he didn’t have a few minutes ago. 

“Well, let’s not stick around and find out,” Sokka said, pulling himself to his feet. “Time to go—“ 

When his hair was peppered with more grey than brown, Sokka would forever look back on this day as simultaneously being the best and worst day of his life. With every retelling, the story would become more and more exaggerated until it barely contained any semblance of truth. Whenever Sokka would launch into his tale, his grandchildren would roll their eyes and shake their heads at their silly grandpa Sokka. 

Right before Sokka was going to suggest leaving and never looking back, several figures fell down from the tops of the trees. Sokka had barely enough time to register the people surrounding them and grab his machete before two arms grabbed him from underneath the arms. He saw Touya go into a sloppy waterbending pose before a figure pulled his hood and the rest of his body onto the ground. Aang was also quickly subdued and the figures even stuffed poor Momo into a small sack. 

Sokka’s hands lashed out desperately and smirked as he scratched a face, but his hands were quickly restrained with rope. His torso was being wrapped as well and the last thing he saw was a white painted face before a strip of cloth fastened itself over his eyes. Once his captors were sure he wasn’t going to escape, Sokka was pushed roughly to the ground. He heard Aang and Touya groaning beside him. 

“I think we’ll be staying a while,” Aang said weakly. If Sokka’s arms were free, he’d smack himself on the head. After a few long moments, Sokka felt himself being yanked to his feet and led towards somewhere. The only things constant where the rocky terrain his feet kept stumbling over and the harsh shoves of the person behind him. After a long trek, Sokka felt someone in front of him yank on his parka harshly and shove him against a pole. Sokka didn’t move as his was tied to the pole. He couldn’t see them, but he supposed that Aang and Touya were tied next to him as well. 

“You three have some explaining to do,” said a deep and gravelly voice. Sokka turned towards the voice and shrugged. He was about to reply with something snarky when a clear voice that reminded Sokka of bells interrupted him.

“And if you don’t answer all our questions, we’re throwing you in the water with the Unagi.”

Sokka guessed the Unagi was that creature that ate all those elephant koi fish. Sokka did not want to end up there. He opened his mouth to speak, when he was interrupted yet again.

“Show yourselves you cowards!” Touya’s high pitched voice rang out. With a rough yank, the blindfold was torn off Sokka’s eyes. He squinted against the bright sun and saw the people who had ambushed them. They were five girls, dressed in various shades of green. They had black armor wrapped around their torsos and golden hairpieces. Sokka guessed the one in front was the leader, not only because she was in front, but because her hair piece was the most golden and ornate one of all. Each girl had white faces, with bold red streaks across their eyes. For some reason, they looked really familiar to Sokka, as if he had seen them before. Especially the girl in the front with the ornate hair piece. 

“Who are you?” Aang asked. 

“Yeah and where are the men who ambushed us?” Touya said.

The girl with the ornate hair piece stepped up. “There were no men,” she said with a scowl. She was the same girl as before, with the clear bell-like voice. “We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?”

“There’s no way a bunch of girls took us down,” Touya said.

“Why not?” asked another painted girl.

“Because the men who ambushed us were ugly!!”

A stunned silence fell over the girls, Aang and Sokka. The leader blinked, before grabbing Touya by the collar and roughly shaking him. “The Unagi is going to eat well tonight!” she said angrily.

“No, don’t hurt him! He’s only eleven,” Sokka offered as an apology. “He’s just a kid, he can be an idiot sometimes.”

The girl gave Sokka an appraising look, before scoffing and releasing Touya. 

“It’s my fault,” Aang admitted sadly. “I wanted to ride the elephant koi. I’m sorry we came here.”

The girls turned to look at a man Sokka didn’t notice before. He was dressed in clothing similar to Sokka’s parka, with fur lining the collar of it. He had a thick grey beard and small periwinkle eyes. For someone who didn’t have a lot of hair covering his forehead, the man had an impressive ponytail that stood straight up and long grey hair flowing in the back. 

“How do we know you’re not Fire Nation spies?” the man asked in a voice that sounded identical to the gravelly one earlier. “Kyoshi has stayed out of the war so far and I intend to keep it that way!”

“Says the guy with an organized military force,” Sokka muttered under his breath. 

“What did you say?” the leader asked threateningly.

“I know Kyoshi!” Aang said, seemingly in reply to the girl. The man blinked.

“How could you possibly know her?” the old man asked. “She’s been dead for centuries.”

Aang looked up. Sokka followed his gaze and saw that the pole they were tied to was actually the base of a statue. It was faded from years of exposure and neglect, but Sokka could recognize who it was in a heartbeat. He had seen her statue in the Air Temple Sanctuary, and he had seen her face paint reflected on the girls in front of him. It was one of Aang’s past lives.

“I know her because I’m the Avatar,” Aang said. For the second time that day, the girls and the man were shocked into silence. The girl with the ornate hair piece was the first to recover.

“That’s impossible!” she cried. “The last Avatar was an airbender born a hundred years ago!”

Aang gave her one of his patented grins. “That’s me!”

The man’s face twisted into a snarl of anger. “Throw the imposter to the Unagi!” he commanded the girls. They took out their fans and approached the trio. 

“You know it’d be really cool if you did some airbending right now,” Touya said, speaking up for the first time in a while. With a flourish, Aang jumped into the air. He flew above the statue of Avatar Kyoshi and gently floated to the ground. Everyone’s mouths dropped, except for Sokka’s and Touya’s and the man pointed at Aang in awe. 

“It’s true….you are the Avatar,” he said. Aang nodded. During his little stunt, a group of spectators, all wearing blue, Sokka noted, had gathered around the statue and were staring at Aang in awe.

“And to further prove my claim, check this out,” Aang said seriously. He reached into his tunic, held his hands together and copied the air marble trick from earlier. The crowd burst into cheers, with one guy starting to scream and flail about wildly. His mouth filled with foam and he collapsed onto the ground, while the rest of the spectators continued to cheer.

“Uh, is he going to be alright?” Sokka asked the girl with the hairpiece. She looked towards where Sokka was seeing and sighed. 

“He’ll be fine,” she said flippantly. Despite her words, she went over to the foaming mouth guy and grabbed his arm. “Come on, Fomu. People are watching,” she said before dragging him off towards the village. Sokka had the strangest feeling that she was embarrassed. He wondered why. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Breathe In.

Breathe Out.

Breathe In. 

Breathe Out.

Breathe-

“Azula?”

The candle’s flames spiked dangerously, mirroring the furrow on Azula’s brow. She refused to acknowledge the one who had rudely interrupted her mediation. It took her forever to purge her mind of aimless thoughts and she was finally getting the hang of this meditation thing. The presence didn’t leave and after a few minutes Azula was annoyed. 

“The only reason you should be interrupting me is if you have news about the Avatar,” Azula snarled without turning around. 

Yu Lee rolled her eyes. She had just come from a long debate, in which everybody compared the pros and cons of interrupting Azula’s meditation. In their defenses, Ty Lee burst into tears and Wei used his patented turtle duck eyes. The combined forces of watery grey eyes and sparkling golden ones—how did a twenty nine year old man pull that off!?— were just too much and Yu Lee volunteered herself. Ty Lee’s tears dried up immediately and she cheerfully gave her sister a grin before running off into the ship’s bowels. At least Wei didn’t let up his turtle duck eyes until she left. Yu Lee supposed her two immature companions were right in forcing her to go. Out of everyone, she was the most capable for these kinds of things. 

“Well there’s news,” Yu Lee said. In response, Azula raised an eyebrow, but her eyes remained closed and she didn’t turn around. “You aren’t going to like this, ‘Zula.”

“You’re the one who taught me that keeping a level head is a sign of a great leader,” Azula said. “You always keep your cool, so I can as well. I can take whatever you tell me.”

“The Avatar’s missing and we have no idea where he is,” Yu Lee said without any reservations.

“WHAT!?” Azula screeched and the candle’s flames shot up to the ceiling. Yu Lee sighed and stepped back. “Remember your breathing,” Yu Lee reminded. 

Azula snarled for a few moments before taking a deep breath. With each deep breath, the flames eventually returned to acceptable to candle levels and Yu Lee stepped back into the room. Although Azula looked calmer, Yu Lee could tell the princess was still annoyed. 

“Why haven’t we been able to find him?” 

“Well,” Yu Lee said, approaching the small desk in front of Azula and opening the scroll. “As you can see, there have been multiple sightings of the Avatar, but he’s impossible to track down.”

Azula looked at the map and saw dozens of marks documenting Avatar sightings. They were haphazardly spread out along the southern islands of the Earth Kingdom and Azula struggled to make heads or tails of it.

“He is clearly a master of evasive maneuvering. With each passing day, I respect the Avatar more and more,” Azula said, with a touch of reverence in her voice. Yu Lee rolled her eyes in return. Azula rolled her eyes at her friend’s outfit. Yu Lee, who was normally rather vain, seemed to wear the same outfit every day. Just because they were at sea didn’t mean that they had to forgo regular hygiene. Of course, to the uninformed outsider, it looked like Azula was wearing the same outfit every day, but she was really wearing several different variations of the casual outfit worn by many nobles. They weren’t in style anymore, but some things were important, like finding the Avatar. 

“I think you may be overestimating the intelligence of the Avatar, ‘Zula,” Yu Lee said. “I think he’s just lost.”

Azula scoffed. “Don’t be upset because you’ve been outsmarted, Yuie.” Azula smirked when a flash of annoyance flitted over Yu Lee’s face. Yu Lee was as stoic as the docile current of a stream, and as far as Azula could remember, she had always been that way. Where Ty Lee was flighty and exuberant, Yu Lee was steady and composed. Yu Lee rarely showed her true feelings and Azula felt a sense of accomplishment when she broke that mask. 

“We’re currently up against a twelve year old boy, and two Southern Water Tribe members—“ Yu Lee started.

“They’re peasants!! It’s that awful and stupid ponytail boy with the walking skeleton for a grandmother! And the boy with the terrible hair!” Azula snarled. Yu Lee raised an eyebrow, but continued.

“Either way, I highly doubt they’re deliberately throwing us off their trail.”

“Afraid you aren’t the smartest anymore?”

“Are you saying that the ‘stupid ponytail boy with the walking skeleton for a grandmother’ is smarter than me? Because that’s what it sounds like, Princess Azula.”

Azula flushed red and shook her head. “No!! I’m not saying that at all! He’s a stupid peasant!”

Yu Lee raised an eyebrow and Azula felt a bead of sweat crawl down her neck. The other girl unraised the eyebrow and gave the princess a smug smile. “Good. Since we’ve established that I’m smarter than the Avatar, we’re going to use my intelligence to come up with a plan to capture him,” Yu Lee said while rolling the map back into a scroll. 

“I’ll get Ty Lee and Wei and we’ll meet in the navigation room,” Azula said, forgetting all about her meditation. There were more important things to do than look at a bunch of candles and breathe. Azula stood and exited the small meditation room and headed to the deck to find the commander of the ship. 

“Where is Commander Taizong?” she asked the two soldiers who were ignoring their duties. They jumped and looked at Azula with wide guilty eyes.

“Where’s the commander?” one asked. 

Azula scoffed. “I’m so happy to know that the Fire Nation teaches its best soldiers to mindlessly parrot my words back to me,” she spat. “Yes, you fool, I asked for the location of Commander Taizong. Or were those words too big for you?”

The men fidgeted nervously and avoided Azula’s harsh gaze. One soldier, a man older than herself but younger than Wei, met her eyes first. “The commander left to buy some supplies, p-Princess,” he said nervously. “The cook complained about the lack of meat, so the commander went shopping.”

“And he couldn’t order one of you fools to do it?” 

The men shook their heads. Azula sighed and rolled her eyes. “Very well then, you two can go clean out the barracks and when you’re done with that, you’ll clean the chamber pots. I heard they’re really disgusting this time of year.” She smirked at the twin looks of horror on the soldiers and strode towards the edge of the deck. She peered over and saw a few servants packing boxes onto the ship. Azula was about to ask the servants about the whereabouts of Wei, when a familiar head of hair ran towards the ship. Wei ran onto the deck, out of breath and eyes lit up with excitement. 

“Azula, Azula!” Wei exclaimed. “Where’s Ty and Yuta? I have great news!”

“Um….deeper in the ship?” she replied hesitantly. “We’re supposed to be meeting in the navigation room.” Where was the meat he was supposed to buy?

“Then what are we waiting for?” Wei asked. He grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the bowels of the ships. In nearly no time at all, Wei had pushed her into the navigation room, where Yu Lee and Ty Lee were huddled closely and whispering to each other. Ty Lee wore a serious expression that looked out of place on her face. Sometimes, Azula had the feeling that the Ty Lee that she knew and the Ty Lee that Yu Lee knew were two completely different people. 

“Stop talking about boys, we have serious things to talk about!” Wei teased. A shadow seemed to fall over Ty Lee’s face, but she quickly covered it with a bright smile. 

“We were talking about Yu Lee’s booooyfriend,” Ty Lee teased.

“What boyfriend?” Wei asked. He gave Yu Lee a stern look. “You’re too young to have a boyfriend, Yuta! Is it one of the men here? I’ve told you about soldiers—”

Yu Lee rolled her eyes. “I don’t have a boy—“

“He’s tall, brooding and handsome,” Ty Lee teased. “And he’s waiting for her with open arms, a bouquet of fire lilies and a marriage proposal for when she comes back!”

Wei’s face paled and he looked stricken. He ran his hand through his hair, nervously muttering things about ‘marriage proposals’ and ‘having to burn someone’s d— “Didn’t we have serious things to talk about?” Yu Lee asked, with her cheeks pink and arms crossed. 

Wei huffed. “Fine, but this isn’t over. I want you to tell me everything about this boyfriend.” He motioned for Azula to take a seat at the large table in the middle of the room. He took a chair at the head of the table and looked to the three teenagers in front of him.

“I have some information from a very reliable source,” Wei started, giving each girl a pointed look.

Ty Lee was rapt with attention, but her sister was slouched in her seat with her arms still crossed. Azula was pretty curious about what her commander had to say. After being dragged across the deck and uncomfortably listening to Yu Lee’s romance life, she wanted to know what was so important! She only hoped she didn’t look eager. As princess of the Fire Nation, she had a reputation to uphold. 

“I was shopping for Chao—“ 

“Who’s Chao?” Azula asked.

“The cook,” Wei replied smoothly. “So I was shopping for Chao and I come across this reputable fish seller. So we’re haggling fish prices, and he asks me, ‘son, have you heard?’ And being the concerned and involved man I am, I ask him, ‘no, I haven’t heard a thing.’ Then the man’s face gets all bright and he leans towards me, as if we’re sharing a secret together. He comes to me and says, ‘the Avatar is on Kyoshi Island!’ I’m stunned of course, but I quickly recover and buy all of his stock. So while the servants were loading all of those boxes of fish, I ran onto the ship, found Azula and dragged her here.”

Azula nearly squealed with joy. A small high pitched squeak managed to escape, causing Ty Lee to look at her strangely, but that wasn’t important. 

“We know where the Avatar is!” Azula yelled. “Wei, ready the rhinos. Ty Lee, go alert the crew. Yu Lee, find Kyoshi Island on a map! He’s not getting away from me this time!”

* * *

* * *

* * *

Ever since Aang’s arrival on Kyoshi Island, the villagers were hustling and bustling to make Kyoshi Island a shining gem in the middle of the ocean. Left to exposure for at least eighty years, the Kyoshi statue was finally being cleaned and with each passing hour, a new coat of paint. There were sweepers in the streets, and Appa even had two groomers doting on him while he ate a bunch of hay. These villagers were really happy that Aang had arrived, and so was Aang. He was getting an obscene amount of attention from everybody and the airbender was utterly glowing. On the other hand, Touya had become surlier and surlier until the boy barely talked. Any attempt to figure out what was wrong would lead to a shrug and stuffing his mouth with food. 

The old man, whose name was Oyaji, had set up a table of food for breakfast. He had told them that they were staying in his house, the biggest and most elaborate house on Kyoshi Island. Since Aang was the island’s honored guest, it only made sense that he and his friends stayed in the mayor’s house. Sokka thought Oyaji was being very kind, if not a little opportunistic. Either way, the feast in front of them was irresistible and it was strange that Touya wasn’t eating a thing.

“Touya, are you okay?” Sokka asked. “You aren’t eating.”

“’M not hungry,” Touya muttered.

“But you’re always hungry!” Aang said, feeding a few grapes to Momo. “Are you mad because we got captured by those girls?” 

Touya shook his head and looked impassively at the large table of food in front of him. Not even Momo’s attempts to give Touya a half-eaten grape seemed to take the waterbender out of his funk. 

“What’s wrong Touya?” Sokka asked again, with a frown on his face. Touya shrugged and continued staring at the food. 

“Yeah, why are you so upset?” Aang chimed in. “It’s great here! They’re giving us the royal treatment.”

“True,” Sokka agreed. “But don’t get too comfortable. It’s risky for us to stay in one place for very long.” His thoughts turned back to the crazily intense princess from before. He didn’t want to see her again, especially if she was going to throw fire around. 

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Aang reassured the siblings. “Besides, did you see how happy I’m making this town? They’re even cleaning that statue in my honor!”

“Nice to see you excited about being the Avatar,” Touya muttered. “I’m sure it won’t go to your head.”

“Come on, you know me better than that!” Aang said with a huge grin. “I’m just a simple monk.” 

Touya didn’t say anything else, but Sokka noticed his brother frown. Maybe he’d just let the two of them work out whatever was going on. Touya tended to take offense to something trivial and be in a funk for days. That happened once when Touya slipped on the ice and Senka didn’t help him up. For days, Touya sat home and ate everything in sight. 

“Well,” Sokka stood. “I’m going to talk to the Kyoshi Warriors about beating up fire nation soldiers.” He looked at his sulking brother and Aang’s bright face. “Just eat something, okay Touya? We’ll be leaving soon enough.”

Sokka got another shrug in reply, but at least Touya finally took the grape Momo was trying to shove into his mouth. He walked through the door, passing a few girls trying to get a glimpse of the Avatar. The streets were lined with large and leafy trees. There were few trees in the Southern Water Tribe, and none of them ever had leaves or were tall. They were small, gnarled and always covered with a film of frost. That led to their village using mostly snow, stone and bone for supplies, not wood like Kyoshi seemed to use. Nestled in a small house surrounded by a grove of trees, Sokka heard a voice that sounded suspiciously like the girl with the headpiece.

He poked his head inside and saw the girls preforming some sort of fan dance in perfect unison. They all stopped when they saw him. ”Sorry ladies,” Sokka said sincerely. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your dance lesson. I was just looking for a place to practice beating up the Fire Nation.” The longer he talked, the more nervous he seemed to get. Sokka could feel his cheeks slowly start to heat up.

The girl with the headpiece raised an eyebrow and looked somewhat amused. “Well, you’re in the right place,” she said, closing her fan. “Sorry about yesterday. I didn’t know you were friends with the Avatar.”

“It’s all right. I mean normally I’d hold a grudge.” His cheeks got even redder when he noticed all the girls were staring at him. “But I’ll make an exception,” he rushed.

“I should hope so,” the leader said dryly. “We wouldn’t stand a chance against a big strong man like you?”

“Um,” Sokka blushed. He was sure that he was bright red through his dark skin. “I am the best warrior in my village but—“

“Wow! Best warrior huh?” the leader looked back at the other Kyoshi Warriors with mock wide eyes. “In your whole village? Maybe you’d be kind enough to give us a little demonstration.”

“Oh well….I mean….” The words that every other warrior in his village under the age of ten died on the tip of his tongue.

“Come on!” the girl cajoled. “Girls, wouldn’t you like him to show us some moves?” The other girls nodded and giggled at Sokka. He made to protest, but half a dozen giggling girls were very persuasive.

“If that’s what you want, I’d be happy to…” Sokka said unenthusiastically. He walked back until he was several steps away from the girl with the headpiece. “Alright, you’ll stand here and try to block me.”

Sokka fell into a fighting pose he learned from Nulia, while the girl didn’t move at all. Sokka felt a little worried, but he doesn’t let that stop him from punching her. In an instant, her arm had blocked his punch and a fan was dug into his shoulder. Sokka bit back a cry of pain and rubbed his hurt shoulder.

“Good block,” he ground out through the pain. The girl just gave him an arrogant smile. Up until this point, Sokka had a grudging respect for the girl and her Kyoshi Warriors, but that smile… His mind flashed back to a smug smile made worse by piercing golden eyes. He would not fail again.

“Let’s you if you can handle this!” Sokka yelled while throwing another punch. The girl dodged, but this time Sokka was ready. She moved to the left, and Sokka swiped out his leg and tripped her. The girl spent only a second on the ground before she flipped up and sent her own jab. Sokka dodged and tried to roundhouse kick her, but she ducked under his leg and pushed him off balance. He fell on the ground with a hard thud.

He got up, not as fast as the girl, but fast enough that she was a little surprised at his wild charge. She spun out of his way and grabbed his arm. She tried to push him around, but Sokka stopped that with a swipe of his other arm. The girl let go and leaped back, and Sokka charged again. She got ready to tackle him head on, but Sokka feinted at the last second and threw another punch. It barely grazed the girl’s nose as she grabbed his arm again. This time Sokka was only able to watch helplessly as the girl tossed him to the ground, right on his face.

“Anything else you want to teach us?” She said mockingly. 

Sokka rolled over and looked the girl in the eyes. They were such a pretty color, not quite the blue of the Water Tribes. There was something else there, lurking in the color of her eyes, something Sokka couldn’t find a name to, but it was on the tip of his tongue. “You’re the one who wanted me to teach you,” he said accusingly. “I just wanted to practice!”

The girl’s eyes narrowed and she scoffed. “You came in here, acting all high and mighty because you’re a _man_ who could take on all of us ugly dancing girls!”

Sokka blinked. He wasn’t thinking that at all. He actually wanted to learn from them because they were capable warriors. But then her words hit him. “Are you mad because Touya thought you guys were men?” he blurted out. Upon looking at the girl’s indignant face, he thought that maybe pointing out a girl’s insecurities weren’t the best idea when she could beat him up and his face was two inches away from her feet.

“Where we come from, women aren’t allowed to be warriors,” Sokka said, sitting up and putting some distance between his face and her feet. “That’s the men’s job. Men are supposed to hunt, build things, protect the tribe and all that, while the women cook, clean, mend clothes and other stuff like that.” With every word he said, he saw the girl get angrier and angrier. “But then the men left and then there was nobody to hunt or build or protect the tribe, except for me, a fourteen year old who could barely spear a fish. They left us defenseless and without resources.” He felt the bitterness that he had tried to push deep into his heart settle itself at the back of his throat. He took a deep breath and continued, not looking at the faces of the Kyoshi warriors.

“So the women had to hunt and spear and protect the tribe, and they did. In addition to all of the ‘womanly’ duties they already had to do, they took over the men’s jobs. A woman taught me how to fight with my fists and we taught ourselves how to effectively use the weapons we were left with,” Sokka said, and then he added in a whisper, “Especially since I learned how to use a machete from a fisherman and not a warrior. But we made it work. So no, I don’t think I’m better than any of you, especially when you showed me otherwise.”

Sokka shook his head and stood up, ignoring the sore parts of his body. “Sorry for wasting your time,” he muttered, turning to leave.

“Wait!” the girl said, putting her hand on his hurt shoulder. Sokka winced. “Sorry,” she apologized. “Do you want a few lessons?”

Sokka’s eyes widened. “I would be honored…but what about—“

The girl shook her head. “With your skills, there’s no way you can stand up to any fire nation soldier. If I’m going to trust the Avatar’s safety with you, you better know how to defend yourself.”

“Even if we are ugly,” a Kyoshi warrior giggled. Sokka felt his face heat up. 

“We normally don’t teach outsiders, especially boys, but we’re going to make an exception, right girls?” the girl asked. The others nodded their agreements.

“But that means you have to follow our traditions,” the same Kyoshi warrior said. 

“And we mean _all_ of them,” another said darkly. Sokka gulped.

* * *

* * *

* * *

“There she is girls,” Aang said to the group of girls who had taken to following him. “Me in a past life, Avatar Kyoshi.” The statue had been fully repainted and the effigy of Avatar Kyoshi looked just as bright and bold as she did in life. A weird feeling of pride welled up in Aang’s chest, but that was quickly replaced with a warm and fluffy feeling. Aang always felt most at home when he was surrounded by lots of people. The fact that they were all girls and full of adoration for him helped a lot.

“You were so pretty!” Koko gushed. Out of all his fangirls, he liked Koko the best. That’s why he let her hold Momo. Aang turned around and saw all the awe-filled faces of his fangirls, but someone was missing. “Excuse me for a second,” he told the girls before running off towards the rest of the village. He missed the look of disappointment on their faces. He looked around until he saw a fuzzy head peeking out of a blue parka. He ran up to Touya and poked him in the back. Touya turned around with a surprised look once he saw Aang. The waterbender offered his friend a big smile.

“Hi Aang! You want to help me bring this back to our room?” Touya asked, holding up a large pot of vegetables. “Sokka said we were leaving soon so I wanted to get prepared, but it’s a little heavy.”

“Well actually I can’t,” Aang said apologetically. 

“What do you mean you can’t?” Touya asked, the smile slipping off his face.

“I promised the girls that I’d give them a ride on Appa,” Aang said. “I actually wanted you to come with us. It’ll be fun!”

“Watching you show off for a bunch of girls doesn’t sound fun to me,” Touya frowned. He turned away from Aang and resumed filling the pot with more vegetables.

“Neither does carrying that basket,” Aang retorted. 

“It’s not my basket!!” Touya said angrily. “I just told you, Sokka said we’re leaving soon before that crazy fire nation girl finds us again!”

“I don’t want to leave Kyoshi yet. I can’t but my finger on it but,” Aang turned around and saw that his group of fangirls had followed him. He gave them a grin and they waved back. “There’s something I really like about this place.”

Koko stamped her way over to Aang and gave Touya a distrustful look. “What’s taking you so long, Aangy?” she asked sweetly.

“Aangy?” Touya asked. “You’re just a simple monk, huh? I thought you said you wouldn’t let this Avatar stuff go to your head.”

“It didn’t,” Aang replied scathingly. “You know what I think? You’re jealous.”

“Jealous!?” Touya squeaked. “Jealous of what!?”

“That we’re having so much fun without you.”

Touya glared at Aang and opened his mouth to say something, but shook his head instead. “Whatever,” he said, going back to his vegetables. In a huff, Aang grabbed Koko’s hand and dragged her towards the horde of fangirls. Aang kept looking back at Touya, expecting the younger boy to look back and stop Aang, But Touya didn’t look back once.

* * *

* * *

* * *

“I want the Avatar alive,” Azula said as the shore of Kyoshi Island came into view. From the corner of her eye, Azula thought she saw a large fin descend into the water, but paid no mind to it. Her focus was on this Kyoshi Island and the Avatar it supposedly held. A few minutes later, the walkway was being lowered and Azula mounted her komodo rhino. She lead her beast onto the sandy beach and looked at the soldiers gathered behind her. 

“I want three teams of rhinos to storm the island,” she said in a clear voice. “I will lead one team. Ty Lee, you will lead the second and Commander Taizong will lead the third.” She looked and saw the pink-clad acrobat nod her head while Wei did the same. “Yu Lee, you and a small team of soldiers will stay with the ship, just in case the Avatar flees towards the beach.” 

“Understood,” Yu Lee said with a nod. Azula nodded back and looked at the three teams of soldiers. “Alright,” the princess said. “Let’s go capture the Avatar.”

Azula urged her komodo rhino forward and from her peripheral vision, she noticed Ty Lee and Wei disperse into the forest. She led her team into the main village, which was deserted. The only thing that stood out was a large and vibrant statue of a woman with face paint and golden fans. “Come out, Avatar!” Azula shouted. She looked around and only saw the frightened faces of villagers hiding in their houses. 

“You can’t hide from me forever!” Still no reply from her elusive target. “Find him,” she commanded the three soldiers behind her. “Burn it all down if you have to.”

The men nodded and rode their komodo rhinos deeper into the village. The village was very quiet, not even the hiding islanders were making any noise. It was too quiet. Azula was about to tell her men to pull back when two men were knocked from their rhinos by several green blurs. They were dressed in the same green garb as the statue and had the same painted faces. Azula growled and went to stop all who dared defy her, but was stopped by a painted warrior headed straight for her. Azula sent out a blast of flame, which the warrior deftly dodged. She jumped and tried for an aerial attack, but Azula quickly turned her rhino. With a mighty sweep of its tail, the warrior was knocked away. 

With a smirk, Azula threw another punch of fire towards the warrior, but another one appeared out of nowhere and with a golden fan, blew her flame away. Azula scowled and raised her hand again, but paused. Past the green dress and the face paint, this warrior looked familiar. She narrowed her eyes when they met stormy blue-grey ones.

“It’s you!” Azula cried, recognizing that color. It was the peasant that cut her hair and hit her in the head with that thing. “You stupid peas—“ She didn’t see the warrior who kicked her off her rhino. She was too concerned with the stupid peasant and his dumb make up. From her position on the ground, she felt her rhino run away and scowled. Komodo rhinos were good beasts of burden, but they were easily spooked. 

She jumped up and saw the two painted warriors and the peasant ready to fight her. With a lurch, Azula punched a strong flurry of flame towards the two painted warriors. One flew into a house while the other was slammed into a pole. The peasant charged, fans opened, but Azula kicked out a sweep of fire. The boy jumped, showing an agility Azula didn’t remember from their last encounter, but Azula was ready. She punch a flaming fist into his face and the peasant fell, hands wrapped around his head.

“That’s for cutting my hair,” she spat at his fallen frame. “Nice try Avatar, but these peasants and your stupid friend can’t save you!”

“Hey!” cried out a high pitched voice Azula recognized in a heartbeat. She turned and saw the Avatar further up the street. 

“Finally, you make your appearance,” she said smugly.

The Avatar had a serious expression on his face and his staff was held in front of him, like a sword. “Once I’m done with you, you might want to help your friend with the hair. He’s in a little predicament,” the Avatar mocked. Azula scowled and she sent several fire balls towards the Avatar. He dodged them both and flew towards her. She kicked the staff out of his hands and sent another ball of fire his way. The Avatar dodged and picked up a golden fan that had fallen from a warrior’s hand. He spun around, creating a powerful gust of wind and used the fan to push it towards Azula, who couldn’t dodge it in time. She was pushed back into a house and immediately was in pain. Azula almost felt sorry for the warriors she threw. Was this the kind of pain they were feeling? She couldn’t tell if she had been in pain for only a few seconds or hours.

“There’s no time to say goodbye,” a clear voice said. The voice reminded Azula of bells ringing and other pretty things. She was a little jealous, her voice wasn’t that musical.

“How about apologies?” said the peasant’s voice, a deeper contrast to the clear one. Azula pushed herself up into a sitting position and saw the peasant and the warrior he tried to protect.

“For what?”

“For insulting you. Just because you’re a girl, doesn’t mean you aren’t a warrior.”

The warrior, who seemed to be a girl, smiled sadly. “I am a warrior,” she said, leaning in and giving the peasant a kiss on the cheek. “But I’m a girl too. Now go. We’ll hold them off.” The peasant blushed and started to run towards where the large flying creature had just landed, but he stopped.

“Um, I never got your name,” he told to the girl. “I’m Sokka.”

“Suki,” the girl replied. “You were staying in my house after all.” She gave him a wink and then fell into a fighting pose as other soldiers tried to capture the creature before it flew off. The peasant—Sokka, his name was—nodded and climbed onto the creature. The Avatar said some nonsense words and the creature groaned and flew into the air. 

Azula pushed herself up and pointed to the soldiers trying to engage the painted warriors. “Back to the ship!” she said weakly. “Don’t lose sight of them!”

A small cough caught Azula’s attention. She saw Ty Lee and her komodo rhino stride in. “Um, Azula? Wei’s stuck in a tree and we don’t know how to get him down.”

“And why did you need to tell me this!? The Avatar is getting away!” Azula snarled. ”Tell him to climb down, or do it yourself! Can’t you fly?”

Ty Lee’s eyes grew wide and she gaped like a fish. “Um…” she started. “He’s afraid of heights and everything’s on fire.” 

Azula opened her mouth to retort, but she looked around and noticed that the entire village was indeed on fire, even the statue of the fan woman. 

“Well what am I supposed to do about it?” Azula asked. 

“Put the fires out?” Ty Lee asked with a shrug. “Didn’t the Fire Lord say that we’re supposed to not cause a lot of damage to the places we conquer?”

“Who cares what he said! We need to find—“

“Yeah the Avatar whatever,” Ty Lee said flippantly. “Wei’s still stuck in the tree and we need to put out these fires.” 

Azula frowned and sighed. There was no winning with Ty Lee. “Fine. Get Yu Lee.”

All the while, Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors seemed really confused at the interaction in front of them. They locked eyes with the fire nation soldiers who just shook their heads and shrugged. “This happens all the time,” said a young soldier. The other men nodded. “We like them watch them argue. It’s entertaining.” 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Sokka watched Kyoshi Island become a small speck in the distance. The smoke trails from the fires were still visible. Sokka wished he could have done something, but what could he do? Nothing, except for wiping off the face paint Suki had so painstakingly put on.

“We did the right thing,” Touya said weakly, clinging to the pot of vegetables he managed to pack on Appa.

“You were right,” Aang said. “Look what I brought to that place. They got their town destroyed trying to protect me.”

“They’re brave and they’re strong,” Sokka said in a strong voice. “If we had stayed any longer, that girl would have destroyed the whole place. Since we’re gone, they’ll leave Kyoshi Island and follow us.” With the paint off of his face, Sokka climbed over and patted Aang’s shoulder.

“We have to be more careful,” Touya said and Sokka was happy that the boy seemed to be out of his funk. “We shouldn’t stay in one place for too long either.” Sokka and Aang nodded.

“Where do you want to go next Aang?” Sokka asked. He handed Aang the map and the airbender unfurled it. He studied the map with a seriousness that seemed out of place on his child-like face. 

“How about Omashu?” Aang offered.

“We’re from the Southern Water Tribe Aang,” Sokka said bluntly.

“Right…” Aang replied. “Omashu is a city in the Earth Kingdom. I used to always go there to visit my friend Bumi.”

“Okay, let’s go to Omashu,” Touya shrugged. “It’s not like we have a destination in mind or anything.”

“Perfect!” Aang said enthusiastically. Touya opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. 

“Whatever,” Touya muttered, surly again. Sokka sighed. They were in for a long ride. He flopped back onto the saddle and looked at the clouds. Once they stopped for a break, he would have to change back into his blue tunic. Green was a lovely color, especially on the Kyoshi Warriors, but he felt more comfortable in his native blue. Sokka found his thoughts turning back on Suki. He knew she was alright, she had proven that she could take care of herself, but Sokka couldn’t help but wish they had more time together. She taught him how to use the golden fan as an extension of his arm and how to use his opponent’s energy against them. She was graceful and smart and beautiful and strong and Sokka liked that. Maybe they’d meet again. Sokka turned and looked at Touya. His brother was scratching Momo’s belly and looking out into the ocean. Sokka smiled and turned to Aang. The airbender was looking out into the horizon, holding on to Appa’s reins tightly. Sokka thought it’d be best if he took a nap. That always seemed to make the journey go faster. 

“Sokka, wake up!” Touya yelled into his brother’s ear. Sokka shot up and flailed about wildly. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he said thickly. 

“We’re here!!” Aang exclaimed, jumping off Appa and gliding onto the snowy ground. He pointed to a pyramid made of buildings and strange snake-like pathways. At the base of the pyramid city, there was a tall wall at the base and the entire city looked like a mountain. 

“How long was I asleep?” Sokka asked Touya, but Touya was already climbing down Appa and running to Aang’s side. Sokka sighed. “Well at least it’s you and me now Momo,” Sokka said to the lemur. Momo chattered and climbed onto Sokka’s shoulder. Sokka climbed down and led Appa to the cliff where Aang and Touya were currently marveling at the city of Omashu. 

“Wow,” Touya gasped. “We don’t have buildings like that in the South Pole. They don’t melt, Sokka!” 

Sokka nodded. That was a side effect of having buildings made of stone instead of ice blocks and wood, but he didn’t say that. Let his little brother be marveled by the Earth Kingdom. 

“Come on let’s go slowpokes!” Aang said. “The real fun’s inside the city!” Aang twirled his staff and used a gust of air to fly ten feet into the air.

“Wait a minute!” Sokka said. Aang stopped and landed a few feet on the slope of the cliff. “It could be dangerous if people find out you’re the Avatar. We don’t want a repeat of Kyoshi Island, so you need a disguise.”

Aang’s face fell and he pouted in a very Touya-like way. “So what am I supposed to do?” he asked. “Grow a mustache?” The trio pondered for a bit, before Touya got a very devious look on his face.

“I’ve got a great idea!” he said.

“What?” Aang asked.

“Just stand still and close your eyes,” Touya said, running towards Appa. Aang shrugged and closed his eyes. Sokka saw Touya run his hands through Appa’s fur, shaking loose long strands of fur. Sokka had an idea about where Touya’s plan was going, but he kept his mouth shut. Aang still had his eyes closed and he looked very nervous. Touya kept shaking off loose bison fur until he had a large pile at his feet. Touya took the bulk of the bison fur and tied it together with a rope that Sokka had never seen before. Instead of wondering where Touya got that rope, Sokka walked over and helped Touya tie the fur in a way that it wouldn’t slip out of the rope. They took the bundle between themselves and put it on Aang’s head. Then Touya took a smaller piece clump of fur and stuck it under Aang’s nose.

“Ugh this is so itchy,” Aang said as he opened his eyes. He scratched his scalp and looked at Appa. “How do you live in this stuff?” In response, Appa turned his head and sassily snorted at Aang. The airbender frowned.

“Well now you look just like my grandfather!” Touya said. “Or you would if I had one.”

“Aang is technically a hundred and twelve years old,” Sokka pointed out. Aang rolled his eyes and grabbed his staff nimbly, before leaning heavily on it and shuffling forward.

“Let’s get to skippin’ you young whipper-snappers. The big city awaits!” Aang said in an old, raspy voice. Sokka and Touya looked at each other, but followed Aang towards Omashu anyway. Appa, with Momo lounging on his head, plodded behind the humans. 

“Hey Appa,” Touya said to the bison. Appa groaned in a way that sounded like ‘I just saw you three and a half seconds ago, my condition has not changed.’ Touya seemed to understand and instead of pursuing any other further conversation, Touya just scratched Appa’s snout. Not content to be ignored, Momo started chattering excitedly and jumped into Sokka’s tunic. He poked his head out and looked at Sokka expectantly.

“All the snacks are on Appa,” he said dryly. Momo chattered sadly and made his way back to Appa’s head. Sokka watched the lemur dig into the packs and shook his head. He only hoped that Momo wouldn’t find Touya’s secret stash of smoked meats. After the debacle with the smoked seal jerky, Touya managed to charm a bunch of smoked meats out of Oyaji, and stowed them away in a place Aang couldn’t get them and burn them. “Appa, you stay here and look after Momo, okay?” Sokka told the bison. “We can’t really smuggle you guys into the city.” Appa groaned in affirmation and plopped right on a snow-covered patch of grass. Sokka gave Appa and Momo a quick pat on the heads and ran to catch up with Aang and Touya.

“You guys are going to love Omashu,” Aang said in his normal voice. “The people here are the friendliest in the world.”

“ROTTEN CABBAGES!?” screamed a harsh voice. The trio snapped their heads toward the voice and saw a very angry-looking guard with a cowed-looking merchant. “What kind of slum do you think this is?!” The guard took a cabbage from the merchant’s cart and threw it on the ground. He then stomped and a rock jutted out of the ground and launched the cart over the cliff.

“No!” the cabbage merchant cried, flinging himself towards the cliff. “My cabbages!” The water tribe siblings looked at Aang.

“Friendliest people in the world, huh?” Sokka said dryly. 

“Was that before or after that guy threw those cabbages?” Touya asked.

“Just keep smiling guys,” Aang hissed as they approached the guard and the city’s gate. Touya gave an uncomfortable grimace that could barely pass for a smile. Sokka just raised an eyebrow, not amused. The guard saw them and used his earthbending to hold a bolder over their heads. Touya blanched.

“State your business!” the guard said harshly. Aang, leaning heavily on his staff, ran underneath the rock and right to the guard. Aang pointed a thin finger right in the man’s chest.

“My business is my business young man,” Aang said in his old man voice. “And none of yours!” Aang pointed his finger into the guard’s face then. “I’ve got half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside!!”

Touya and Sokka just watched in horror as Aang threatened the guard. The guard looked at Aang in horror too, nervously looking at the finger centimeters away from his eyes. “Settle down old-timer,” the guard said in a much kinder voice. “Just tell me who you are.”

“My name is Bonzu… Pippinpaddleopsicopolis, the third, and these are my grandkids,” Aang said, waving towards Touya and Sokka.

“Hi. Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis the fifth. Nice to meet you,” Sokka said with a friendly wave. 

“And I’m Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis the sixth! But you can call me Touya,” Touya said with a huge grin.

The guard rubbed his beard pensively while he appraised the Pippinpaddleopsicopolis family. “You seem like a responsible young man,” the guard told Sokka. “See that your grandfather….and your brother stay out of trouble. Enjoy Omashu!”

“We will!” Sokka said, fake cheer saturating his voice. Touya waved at the guards as they approached the gate. The guards slowly opened the gate using earthbending. Sokka peeked into the small gap to see a glimpse of Omashu, but he just saw a bunch of cream-colored stones.

“Hey!” a guard said, grabbing Touya’s shoulder. Touya blanched and looked at the guard with wide eyes. “You’re a strong young boy. Why don’t you show some respect and hold your grandfather’s bag for him?”

“Good idea!” Aang said, throwing the bag at Touya’s head. Touya grumbled as he caught the bag and shuffled his way through the now-open gates. 

“This is the Omashu delivery system,” Aang said in his normal voice. He pointed to the intricate system of chutes and the tubes connected to them. “Earthbending brings the packages up and gravity brings them down.”

They saw a team of earthbenders on a platform with a large stone tub. The tub was filled with various produce and they watched as the earthbenders bended the tub into several different tubs. Finally, an earthbender pushed it off the platform and into a chute, where it whipped past Sokka’s face.

“So they get their mail on time, big whoop,” Sokka said, unimpressed. 

“They do get their mail on time, but my friend Bumi found a better use for these chutes,” Aang said with a mischievous look in his eyes. “He’d always say ‘Instead of seeing what they want you to see, you have to open your brains to the possibilities.’ Where I saw the mail system, he saw the world’s greatest super slide!”

“That sounds dangerous and like it’s going to get us into trouble,” Sokka said.

“Bumi sounds amazing!” Touya gushed.

“Yeah,” Aang agreed. “He was a mad genius.”

“The guard said specifically that we had to stay out of trouble,” Sokka tried, but he knew his words were falling on deaf ears.

“Just one ride,” Aang said, approaching a discarded crate and jumping into it. “And then we’re off to the North Pole, airbender’s honor.” 

Touya brightened and climbed into the crate behind Aang. Sokka tried glaring at Touya again, but seeing as he hadn’t been able to ride the elephant koi fish, Touya was going to be stubborn and ride the mail system. That left Sokka with one option. With a deep sigh, Sokka made his way into the rear, wondering how a crate that looked so small on the outside managed to fit all three of them. Not very well, considering how Touya’s body was pressed uncomfortably against his own. 

“This sounded like fun at first, but now that I’m here…” Touya said, peering at the deep drop they were hanging off of. “I’m having second thoughts.”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before we got into the crate, Touya,” Sokka said tersely.

“Hold on!” Aang yelled, before leaning forward and tipping them into the chute. Whenever someone would ask Sokka how riding the mail system was like, Sokka would say it was like penguin sledding on the highest and steepest mountain ever. The wind whipped through Sokka’s wolf tail as they slid down the chute. Touya was screaming at the top of his lungs, only being drowned out by the sound of Aang’s laughter and the roar of the wind. Sokka grit his teeth and squinted his eyes against the wind, only to widen them when he saw Momo peep out of Aang’s wig and hold on to the strands of Appa’s fur for dear life. 

After seeing a strange glint out of the corner of his eye, Sokka turned and was faced with several long, sharp and deadly looking spears in a crate going the same speed. He tapped Touya’s shoulder and once his brother turned around, they let out a terrified scream. They out-slid the weapons, but before Sokka could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw that the two different chutes had become one and the weapons were right behind them. “Aang!! AANG!!” Sokka yelled.

“Don’t worry I got it!” the airbender said and he leaned right and left, tilting the crate just enough that they fell out of the chute and onto a green tiled roof. The siblings screamed as the crate continued to descend despite being off the chute. They hit the ground, interrupting a squad of soldiers and fell right into another chute. “Aang, do something!” Touya cried. “Use your airbending!”

“That’s a great idea!!” Aang replied. “That’ll make us go even faster!”

“That’s not what I meant!!” Touya cried as Aang used the wind to increase their speed. They dropped straight down, right in the way of a mailman earthbending crates to their destinations. They flew right past the man and into a crate of scrolls. Sokka felt himself floating and turned to see the crate flying right next to him. He looked around and saw nothing but the sky. The wind stole his terrified yelp and he felt himself being pushed right into the crate. Touya’s ashen face looked just as bad as Sokka felt, but their ride wasn’t done yet. They fell onto another roof, ripping tiles and fell right into the living room of a man with a large vase. “Sorry!” Aang cried as they shattered the vase and slid out of his house. 

“My cabbages!!” Sokka heard a familiar voice wail. “You’ll pay for this!” Dimly, Sokka thought he already was paying for it. Touya and Aang had fallen right on top of him and he felt nothing but pain. 

“We’ll take….two cabbages….please…” Sokka wheezed out, before blacking out. 

Sokka woke up to several obnoxious and insistent pokes to his face. “Sokka, wake up!” Touya hissed, his finger ready to strike again.

“What?” Sokka groaned, his chest sore and his lungs bruised.

“Quiet,” a deep and imposing voice said. Sokka looked and saw four guards looming above him. In that instant, Sokka realized he was flat on his back and with a lot of effort, he managed to stand. The guards said nothing, but pushed him, Aang and Touya into a richly decorated room. At the head of the room, saw an old man dressed in strange clothes and wearing flashy jewelry. But even stranger than the clothes and the jewelry, was the two-pronged hat on the man’s head. It reminded Sokka of the tusks on elephant whales, but those creatures were so rare, Sokka had only seen one once. The man’s gaze skimmed over Sokka and Touya, but he became very intrigued and curious when he saw Aang.

“Your majesty,” the deep-voiced guard said. “These juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses and malicious destruction of cabbages.”

“Off with their heads!!” the cabbage merchant yelled. “One for each head of cabbage!” 

“Silence!” the guard yelled, quieting the merchant immediately. Sokka wondered when the merchant even arrived, but his body was in too much pain for him to wonder for long. “Only the king can pass down judgment,” The guard finished.

“What is your judgment, sire?” Another guard asked. The king hmmed and stared at each of the trio in turn. Sokka kept his eyes averted out of shame and pain. When the king’s gaze fell on Touya, the waterbender gave a large, charming and dazzling smile, the same smile that many fell prey to. The king then looked at Aang, who looked away sheepishly. After a few moments, the king was still looking at Aang, who was looking very nervous.

“Throw them…” the king trailed off. Sokka hung his head sadly. He was pretty sure that taking care of his brother didn’t mean getting them both thrown into jail. “A feast!”

“Huh?” Aang asked. The guards looked just as surprised as Aang, but they bowed and led the guests out of the throne room. A few guards escorted the distraught cabbage merchant out of the castle and another led them down a long hall. Sokka tried looking for rooms, but the halls were solid rock. The guards led them into a room with a long table filled with food. “Your feast,” the guard said stoically, before leaving. 

There were three chairs set at the end of one table, and one chair at the other end. The three looked at each other quizzically and sat down in the three chairs. Momo jumped out of Aang’s shirt and onto the table. He scurried through the plates of food before finding a few crackers to munch on. After a few moments, the king joined them. With a chuckle, he stood behind them and gave a crooked smile.

“The people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts,” he said while patting Aang’s head. “So I hope you like your chicken with no skin.” He grabbed the leg of chicken on Aang’s plate and waved it around.

“Thanks, but I don’t eat meat,” Aang said uncomfortably.

“How about you?” the king said, turning to Touya and putting a large hand on his shoulder. “I bet you like meat.” He shoved the chicken into Touya’s mouth, muffling his startled cry. The king left to sit at the other end of the table as Touya started to chew the chicken.

“This is actually pretty good,” Touya said, taking another bite.

“Is it just me or is this guy’s crown a little crooked?” Sokka whispered to Aang. Aang shrugged.

“So tell me young bald one,” the king said again. “Where are you from?”

“Uh… I’m from Kangaroo Island,” Aang lied. 

“Kangaroo Island, ehh?” The king said. “I heard that place is really _hopping_.” A guard coughed dryly as silence settled among the table.

Sokka burst into laughter. “That’s pretty funny! Here I got one,” Sokka said. “What did the snowy wolf bat say to the penguin otter that stole his girlfriend?” Everyone blankly stared at Sokka.

“’I hope you can _bat_ her up! Get it!? Because he’s a bat!”

“That wasn’t funny Sokka,” Touya said. A guard coughed again.

“Ha!” The king said, but then he gave a big yawn. “All these good jokes are making me tired,” he said. “Guess it’s time to hit the hay.” The king then reached into his sleeve and threw a chicken leg right at Aang. Aang panicked and caught the chicken with his airbending. The guards gasped. “There’s an airbender in our presence,” the king said. “And not just any airbender, the Avatar.”

Aang gasped and quickly dropped the chicken onto his plate. “Now what do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Pippinpaddleopsicopolis!” the old man said with a sly smile.

“Okay, you caught me,” Aang said, rising from his seat. “I’m the Avatar, doing my Avatar thing, keeping the world safe.” Aang peeked under the table. “Everything checks out. No firebenders here, so good work everybody!” Aang pulled Sokka and Touya close. “Love each other, respect all life,” he said, dragging the siblings out of their seat and towards the exit. “And don’t run with your spears. We’ll see you next time!”

The guards blocked the exit and pushed the trio forward. “You can’t keep us here!” Touya said. “Let us leave!”

“Lettuce leaf?” the old king asked, and then he grabbed a piece of lettuce from his plate and chewed it. 

“We’re in serious trouble,” Sokka noted. “That man is a master of puns.” 

“Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges, but for now, the guards will show you to your chamber.”

An older looking guard with a hat turned to the king. “My liege, do you mean the good chamber or the bad chamber?” he asked. 

“The newly refurbished chamber,” the king replied.

“And that’s….which one?”

“The one that used to be the bad chamber, until the recent refurbishing.”

“Haven’t we been calling that one the ‘new chamber?’”

“We really should number them,” the king conceded. “Take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!”

The guards took them back to the long hallway and after walking for a few moments, they earthbended an opening. They were pushed inside and the wall was quickly shut behind them. Sokka looked at the plush green beds in the middle of the circular room and the green hammocks hanging from the ceiling. 

“This is the bad chamber?” Touya asked. “This is so nice!”

“That guy did say it was recently refurbished,” Sokka said. 

“That doesn’t matter!” Aang cried. “We’re prisoners and we’re surrounded by rock!”

“I wonder what the three challenges are going to be,” Touya mused.

“We aren’t going to stick around and find out,” Aang said. “We’ll have Momo go through the air vents!” Aang pointed to a small round hole in the middle of the wall. Sokka looked at Momo, who had found his way into their room, onto a bed and was currently licking a half-eaten apple. 

“Are you sure that’s going to work?” Sokka asked, noticing Momo’s huge belly. 

“Of course it will,” Aang said, grabbing Momo off the bed. “Momo, we need you to find Appa and bust us out of here.” Momo trilled in confusion. Aang bounded to the air vent and pushed Momo into it. “Come on boy, get Appa!” Aang said, pushing Momo into the vent. Or trying to. As Sokka had feared, Momo’s huge belly had caused the lemur to get stuck. Aang sighed and flopped back to his bed.

“How was Appa supposed to save us anyway?” Touya asked, lounging on his own bed.

“Appa is a ten ton flying bison,” Aang said dryly. “I think he could figure something out.”

“A ten ton flying bison that’s easily noticeable in the skies,” Touya retorted.

“There’s no point in arguing now,” Sokka said, stopping their argument in the bud. “Get some sleep Aang. You’re going to need it for tomorrow.”

The boy nodded and closed his eyes. Sokka turned to see Touya already fast asleep and drooling on his pillow. He head Momo struggling out of the air vent and he felt a small weight settle by his head. Sokka smiled and scratched behind Momo’s ears. “Goodnight Momo,” Sokka whispered and he felt himself dozing off for the second time that day.

Sokka awoke to feel himself being yanked roughly off the bed. In his sleepy haze, he heard a deep voice from farther away say, “Geez kid, you need to lay off the skinless chicken.” Sokka kept blinking and through the darkness, he saw a guard heft Touya over his shoulder. In his half-asleep shape, Sokka giggled. Touya was a little heavy, but he had the mobility of a giant boulder when he was sleeping, which meant none at all. Touya was a very heavy sleeper. That guard was in for a workout.

“Come on kid, let’s get you to the king,” the guard holding Sokka said. Sokka was half-dragged outside of the room. Sokka blinked again and the old king was there in front of them, wearing an elaborate purple robe. 

“Now that we’re all here, I have an important question to ask of you,” the old man said. He turned to Sokka, who was almost fully awake. “Would you rather have the fern ring or the indigo?”

“The what now?” Sokka asked.

“Fern or indigo?”

“What the hell is a fern?” Touya asked, hanging from the guard’s shoulder. 

“I think it’s some kind of plant,” Sokka replied. Touya gave Sokka a blank look. “You know. That green stuff you don’t like to eat.”

“I know what plants are Sokka!” Touya said. “I’m not stupid!” Touya turned to the old king. “I want the blue ring!”

The king nodded and handed each guard a jagged ring, before walking away. The guard holding Touya decided he had enough and dropped the boy onto the ground. With his hands free, the guard earthbended a wall, blocking their view of the king. With a grumble, Touya got up and walked over to Sokka.

“I want to go to the North Pole,” he whined. “I want to learn how to waterbend. I’m sick of having to hide all the time.”

“I know,” Sokka sighed. He ruffled Touya’s wolf tail. “After Aang wins these challenges, we’ll go straight to the North Pole and get you a teacher, okay?” Touya nodded.

All of the sudden, the wall opened and the king was in view again, but this time with an angrily looking Aang. “So, I will give your friends some special souvenirs.” The guards took Sokka’s and Touya’s hands and shoved the rings on their fingers. True to the king’s word, Touya got the blue ring and Sokka watched as it seemed to tighten around his finger. Sokka quickly turned to his finger and tried to yank his ring off. 

“Those delightful rings are made of pure jenamite, also known as creeping crystal,” the king said with a smile. “It’s a crustal that grows so fast, your friends will be completely covered by nightfall. Terrible thing really.”

“It’s already creeping!!” Touya cried. “How do you stop it?!”

“If the Avatar cooperates, I can stop it,” the old king said.

Aang sighed, but gave the king a determined look. “I’ll do what you want.” And Aang did. The old king’s challenges proved to be just as strange as the king himself. Seriously, what kind of king loses his lunchbox key in an underground waterfall? Not only was his key suspended underneath a waterfall, but the entire cavern was filled with pointy rocks! Aang was smart and used the pointy rocks to his advantage, but that was only after almost being skewered twice.

Finding Flopsie was a little easier, but with the creeping crystal slowly encasing his entire body and the body of his brother, Sokka couldn’t really appreciate the tender moment between pet and owner. When Flopsie jumped to lick the old king, Touya fell backwards and couldn’t get up. That was a little funny. Then for the final challenge, Aang and the old king fought in an impressive duel of opposing elements. Sokka was so entranced by the fight. It was the first time he had ever seen such an impressive display of earthbending. The guards had eartbended, but those were more mundane tasks, the king was truly a master. And Aang… Sokka knew Aang was good at airbending, but to hold his own and even defeat such an earthbending master… Sokka thought Aang was a master himself. Sokka would remember the details of that fight for as long as he would live.

“Now,” the old king said, seemingly not out of breath from the duel. “I have one question for you.”

“That’s not fair!” Aang cried. “You said you’d release my friends if I finished your tests!”

“That’s true, you did say that,” a guard said.

“But what’s the point of tests if you don’t learn anything?” the king laughed. “Answer this question and I will set your friends free. And from the looks of them, I’d say you only have a few minutes left.”

Sokka turned to look at Touya’s body, which was almost completely encased in crystal. “What’s the question?” Touya asked.

“What….is my name?” the king asked, before walking off into a long hall. 

The trio blinked after the king. “How am I supposed to know his name?” Aang cried. “Where the challenges supposed to be some kind of riddle?”

And then the answer hit Sokka like a bag of rocks. “I got it!!” he cried. Aang and Touya turned to Sokka with twin looks of shock. “He’s an earthbender, right? His name is Rocky!” Someone coughed. “You know, because all of the rocks.”

“We’re going to keep trying, but that is a good back up,” Aang said. 

Touya rolled his eyes. “No, it isn’t!!!”

“Everyone’s a critic,” Sokka muttered. “Alright, since it’s not Rocky, let’s go back to the challenges. You got a key from a waterfall, saved his pet and had a duel. What did you learn?”

Aang looked pensive and rubbed the arrow on his head. “Everything was different than I expected,” Aang said. “They weren’t straightforward and I had to think differently than I usually would to solve them.” Then Aang’s eyes brightened and he gave the siblings a smile. “I know his name.” 

In seemingly no time at all, Aang, Sokka and Touya managed to make their way to the throne room, where the king was wearing the green outfit from yesterday. “I solved the question the same way I solved the challenges. As you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities,” Aang said. The king started to laugh with an odd snort. “Bumi, you’re a mad genius.” Aang ran to give the old king a hug.

“Oh Aang,” Bumi said wistfully. “It’s good to see you. You haven’t changed a bit. Literally.”

“It’s really nice that you two have been reunited a hundred years later,” Touya started. “Really, I’m happy for you. But I’m about to be covered in creeping crystal if someone doesn’t do something quick!”

King Bumi snorted and broke the crystals using his earthbending. The pieces flew everywhere and Bumi caught one. “Jenamite is made of rock candy,” he said as he took a bite. “Delicious!”

Touya blankly blinked at King Bumi. Then Touya’s face turned red and he frowned, but Sokka put his hand on his mouth before he could have a meltdown. 

“Why did you make Aang do all those challenges instead of just telling him who you were?” Sokka asked, ignoring Touya’s incessant licking of his palm. 

“It’s pretty fun messing with people,” Bumi chuckled. “But I do have a reason.” Bumi turned to Aang with a grim look. “Aang, the world has changed in the hundred years that you’ve been gone. It’s the duty of the Avatar to restore balance to the world, but you have much to learn. You have to master the four elements and defeat Fire Lord Iroh.” At Aang’s downcast look, Bumi gave Aang a crooked smile. “It looks like you’re in good hands. You’ll need your friends to help you defeat the Fire Nation.” Out of the corner of his eye, Sokka saw Momo glide in and curl up on Aang’s head. And Sokka wondered, where had Momo been the entire time?

“And you’ll need Momo too,” Bumi said. “Especially Momo.” Touya pouted behind Sokka’s hand.

“Thank you for your wisdom, Bumi,” Aang said. “But before we leave, I have a challenge for you.”

“Oh?” Bumi asked.

Aang gave Bumi a big grin. “Would you ride the mail rails with me?” Bumi blinked and then laughed and laughed and laughed.

* * *

* * *

* * *

“Do you have any fans?” 

“Nope! Go Kyoshi!” 

“Seriously? Seriously?” Azula muttered, holding a bucket of water that Ty Lee and Yu Lee were using to douse the fires that had erupted on the main street. 

“I think it’s cute,” Yu Lee said, ignoring the stares from the villagers. “If old fuddy duddy uncle could see you now, he’d be so proud of you ‘Zula.”

Azula scoffed. Her men were sitting in a circle with the painted warriors—well unpainted warriors now. They had wiped the makeup off their faces and Azula discovered they were all girls around her age. The leader, Suki, was even prettier without her makeup. Her hair shone auburn in the setting sun and her eyes twinkled with mirth as she won another card from a soldier. Azula wanted to tear Suki’s pretty hair out. It didn’t help that the other Kyoshi warriors kept staring at her and her two friends.

“Do you have any sparrowkeets?” Wei asked the warriors. They giggled and shook their heads. “Aw, come on Emiko, I know you have a sparrowkeet on you!” 

A warrior with black hair and brown eyes giggled and shook her head. “Nope, go Kyoshi, Commander,” she said with a large smile. 

“I can’t believe this,” Azula muttered. “We’re supposed to be feared by everyone in the world! We’re supposed to be looking for the Avatar, not playing a children’s card game!”

“You burned their village, the least you can do is help them out,” Ty Lee said morosely. 

“Well if they had just given me the Avatar when I asked, nothing had to be burned,” Azula spat.

“You can’t expect everybody to do what you want,” Ty Lee retorted harshly. “That’s not how the world works.”

“I’m the princess of the Fire Nation!”

“The banished princess,” Ty Lee scoffed. Yu Lee, who had been quietly dousing the flames, turned and glared at her sister.

“Ty Lee, that’s enough,” she said sternly. “You need to apologize.”

Ty Lee threw her bucket onto the ground, and turned on her sister. “No! Why should I?” she asked. “You drag me around the world for three years and you expect me to keep holding my tongue?”

“I expect you to show _Princess_ Azula some respect,” Yu Lee said. “You didn’t have to come.”

Ty Lee rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Like I had another choice.”

Azula watched the two sisters stare each other down and felt like an interloper. She was intruding on this moment. Azula had heard them argue before, but not like this. Even during their most heated disagreements, they were always on the same page. 

“You’ve always had a choice, you _always_ have a choice,” Yu Lee retorted. “Don’t you _dare_ play the victim. You don’t get to.”

“Why not?” Ty Lee asked. “Oh, I forgot. It’s so you can be all ‘woe is me, poor Yu Lee,’ like what you’ve done for years!”

“And you’re just as bad!” Yu Lee cried, raising her voice for the first time.

“Hey, why don’t we just finish this,” Azula said hesitantly. “And then we can go find the Avatar.”

“Why don’t you just stay out of this,” Ty Lee spat nastily, whipping her head to face Azula. “This is a _family_ matter, but you wouldn’t know anything about that would you?”

Azula gaped and felt heat prickling at the back of her eyes. Ty Lee had been a little mean earlier and she was often dismissive of what Azula said, but the nastiness in that round face shocked Azula. The game of Go Kyoshi had stalled and everyone was watching the altercation between the three girls. In addition to the tight and uncomfortable feeling in her chest, hot embarrassment flushed her face. Azula didn’t want to show weakness in front of the Kyoshi warriors or Wei, but she couldn’t help the tears that welled in her eyes. Yu Lee was saying something in clipped, angry tones and Ty Lee was screaming back, but she couldn’t hear over the sound of her own distress.

“Children, that’s enough,” Wei said in a harsh tone. He stood in the middle of the sisters and pushed them apart. “Ty Lee, go to the ship first.”

“But—“ 

“Now.” Gone was the Wei who was nonchalantly flirting with an enemy soldier. Commander Taizong had appeared and he wasn’t going to tolerate any disobedience. Ty Lee scowled and stomped back to the ship on her own. Then Wei turned to Yu Lee. “She’s your sister, Yuta and the only one you’re going to get.”

Yu Lee rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “I have six more Wei,” she said. 

“That’s not the point,” he replied. “You’ll never have another Ty Lee. Little feuds like this aren’t worth it. Don’t hold grudges.”

“You’re one to talk,” Yu Lee muttered. Wei didn’t say anything in reply, he just gave her an unreadable look. He sighed and headed back towards the soldiers.

“It’s time to pack up and go. Men, say goodbye, we need to resume the hunt for the Avatar,” Wei commanded. He strode away from them and headed towards the ship. The soldiers grumbled and packed up the cards. They waved at the Kyoshi warriors and villagers and followed their commander. 

Yu Lee sighed and uncrossed her arms. “Are you okay ‘Zula?” she asked, concern obviously lacing her voice.

That snapped Azula out of her reverie. “Yeah,” she said aggressively, wiping her eyes. “I’m fine.” Azula could see that Yu Lee didn’t believe her at all, but Azula didn’t care. “Let’s just go,” she said. “We’re hours behind the Avatar. We’ll never catch him at this point.” She turned to leave and she heard Yu Lee’s soft footsteps behind her. She was glad to get off this stupid island, with its stupid painted warriors and burning buildings, the stupid arguing and Suki’s stupid pretty face. The faster she got away, the better everyone would feel and the faster things would go back to normal. 

“Thank you for helping us,” Suki said. Azula didn’t acknowledge the girl’s appreciation, but Yu Lee did. She was always doing that, covering for Azula and making things better. Whenever Azula destroyed something, usually her brother’s belongings, Yu Lee always took the blame. Maybe Azula should have felt more appreciative, but she was the princess of the Fire Nation. It was to be expected.

“Azula,” Yu Lee said once they had arrived at the docked ship. 

“What?” She replied. “The Avatar won’t catch himself.”

“Don’t let what Ty Lee said get to you, okay? She just misses home. We all do,” Yu Lee said sadly. 

“It’s been a long three years,” Azula said, but that didn’t forgive anything. “For everybody, but especially me. You have no idea how hard it is to be me. I just want to go home.”

“Everything will be all right,” Yu Lee said. Azula felt arms wrap around her chest and a warm body at her back. Azula closed her eyes and stopped thinking for a bit. “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little late, but as you can see this chapter is very long, so I hope the wait was worth it. I put off studying for my finals to finish this! This chapter was originally supposed to focus on just the city of Omashu and Bumi, but they ended up being a little cut because the Kyoshi Island part was so long, and that's after a cut out a third of it. I ended up cutting some of Omashu out because the chapter was getting ridiculously long and I was really getting tired of writing. I've been working on essays and this story back to back all month and I am sick of sitting in front of a computer screen.
> 
> I think I'm gonna go outside and get some air. I hope you like this chapter, thanks for reading and I'll see you all next month if finals haven't destroyed me completely.
> 
> PS: 'Unraised' is not a typo. I was being humorous.


	9. The Winter Solstice (Part 1)

“And that is how we’ll capture the Avatar,” Yu Lee finished with a smirk.

“You are so smart,” Ty Lee told her sister. “So so _sooooo_ smart.” 

Azula had to agree. Yu Lee had a knack of coming up with intelligent plans and she had outdone herself with this one. There was no possible way she could fail. 

“I don’t know about this Yuta,” Wei said seriously. “There are too many things we don’t know. And I don’t like the idea of you being off by yourself.”

“I am fifteen years old,” Yu Lee said. “I’m practically an adult.”

“You're almost fifteen,” Wei retorted. “It’s a good plan, a really good plan, but you can’t be alone. There are pirates, con-men and slave traders roaming the seas, you know that. They’ll jump at the chance to get you. You’d fetch a high price.” Yu Lee furrowed her brow and crossed her arms.

“What else can we do?” Ty Lee asked. “We’ve lost the Avatar twice and now we have Zhao to deal with.”

“And we need to hurry,” Yu Lee snapped. “Zuko’s fiancée is turning seventeen next year. If we don’t find the Avatar soon, then Azula will never become Fire Lord.”

“Unless something _bad_ happens,” Ty Lee said innocently.

Wei was not amused. “I think we have more important things to worry about,” Wei said dryly. “Sozin’s Comet is a little more important than your crush getting married.” Yu Lee turned pink and scowled. “And you could get thrown into prison for talking like that, Ty Lee.”

Ty Lee widened her eyes innocently and then she turned to Azula. “You’ve been quiet Princess. What’s on your mind?”

“I’m just a little apprehensive,” Azula said haltingly. “It’s been three years since we’ve been apart. Will you be okay by yourself?”

“I’ll be fine,” Yu Lee smiled. “Contrary to what Wei thinks, I can handle myself. And if some slave traders or pirates try to steal me away, I’ll sink their ships.” Azula’s apprehension must have still shown on her face, because Yu Lee gave her friend a big hug. 

“Stop hugging me,” Azula mumbled.

“No. My hugs make everything better.”

Ty Lee grinned and wrapped her arms around her sister and Azula. “Come on Wei!” Ty Lee said. “Join the hug!” Wei gave a crooked smile and joined the group hug. Azula ducked her head to hide the smile threatening to overtake her mouth. She couldn’t let these people think that she actually liked them, especially after Ty Lee’s cruel words on Kyoshi Island. The day after they left, Ty Lee cartwheeled her way into Azula’s meditation room and acted like nothing had happened. Azula didn’t bring anything up and Ty Lee didn’t and things felt almost normal. 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Azula said, untangling herself from the mass of limbs that wrapped around her. “I don’t do hugs.”

Ty Lee rolled her eyes and stifled a giggle. “Yeah right,” Ty Lee snorted. Azula gave Ty Lee a scowl, but the girl ignored it.

“As heartwarming as our hug was, we still have things to discuss,” Wei said. “Why don’t you—“ 

“Wei, it’ll only work if I’m alone,” Yu Lee sighed. “If I bring a bunch of Fire Nation soldiers, there goes my cover.”

Wei sighed and rubbed his temples. Azula could see Wei’s mind working furiously and the rising frustration when he couldn’t think of any alternatives. “Don’t suppose you could sneak a messenger hawk with you?” Wei asked. Yu Lee shook her head. “Thought not,” he sighed. “When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Yu Lee said. 

“So soon?” Azula asked, frowning. Yu Lee nodded.

“It’s a long voyage and I need to arrive before you or else I look suspicious,” she said. “Don’t look so glum. Before you know it, we’ll have the Avatar in our hands and the Fire Lord will have to name you his heir.”

Azula nodded, but a strange feeling still gripped her chest, like she was forgetting something and it was very important. “We better start getting ready then,” Ty Lee said. “I’ll help you pack,” she said to her sister. They walked off into the belly of the ship, likely to their room, leaving Azula and Wei in their wake.

“I’m not happy about this,” Wei said. “But I guess we’ll see what happens, right?” 

“It’ll work,” Azula said. “Yu Lee’s plans always work.”

“Right.” Wei still seemed worried. “I just hope you appreciate this Azula. She’s doing this for you. She should be at home, learning to take over the family estate.”

“I know that,” Azula muttered. “I do appreciate it.”

“No you don’t,” he said bluntly. “You don’t realize how lucky you are. If your father or brother were in the position you are now, they wouldn’t have half of the support that you do. Don’t take those girls for granted, Princess. They’re all you have.”

“You aren’t in my corner Wei?”

“We have to think long term princess,” Wei said. “I’m twice your age.” And with a wan smile, Wei descended into the bowels of the ship, leaving Azula with only the sea breeze as her company. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

“Those clouds look so soft,” Touya said, peering over Appa’s saddle. “Like you could just jump down and land on a big soft cottony heap.”

“I swear to Tui, Touya, if you try to jump off Appa, I will kill you,” Sokka said, using a whetstone to sharpen his machete.

“You can’t catch me if I’m on a fluffy cloud Sokka!” Touya said, getting on his knees. Sokka looked up from his machete and gave Touya a blank look. Touya sat back down sheepishly.

“I’ll try it!” Aang said, grabbing his staff and jumping off Appa’s head.

“How come you let Aang do dangerous things and I can’t?” Touya pouted as he watched Aang disappear within the depths of the cottony white clouds. 

“Aang is a master airbender that can fly,” Sokka said, not looking up from his machete. “And I can’t really tell the Avatar what to do. I’m pretty sure that’s a cosmic crime.” 

“Well if we would just go to the North Pole, I would be a master waterbender by now,” Touya muttered. Sokka gave a big sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Ever since they left Omashu, Touya had been bemoaning their slow journey to the North Pole. Touya had complained so much, that Aang even bypassed Appa’s quarter-hourly break and Sokka watched sadly as they flew over a small village. A small pile of coins burned in Sokka’s pocket, just begging to be spent. 

A breeze ruffled Sokka’s wolf tail and he turned to see Aang gently descending onto Appa’s saddle. “Turns out that clouds are made of water,” Aang said as he dripped all over Appa’s saddle.

“You hear that Sokka? They’re made out of water,” Touya said petulantly. “If I knew how to waterbend, I could bend the clouds because they’re made of water.”

Aang blinked at Touya owlishly, but shrugged and airbended himself dry. Sokka sighed and shook his head. He started to resume sharpening his machete when something caught his attention. The green and thriving forest they were flying over had a streak of black going through it. 

“Hey, what is that?” Sokka asked, leaning over to get a better look of the forest. Sokka still didn’t know much about plants and plant life, but black seemed to be a universally bad color. “It looks like a scar.”

“Let’s check it out,” Aang said, jumping onto Appa’s head and steering the bison. As they gently descended, Sokka felt Momo climb onto his shoulder and chatter worriedly in his ear. He rubbed behind Momo’s ear in an attempt to calm the lemur down. They landed and Sokka could see that the streak of black he saw from the air was scorched land. Jagged remains of trees shot out of the ground like grave markers and the air sat heavily on their chests. The three climbed off Appa and looked at the destruction around them. Sokka shuffled his feet and saw puffs of ashy soil rise into the air. 

“Listen,” Sokka said. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Touya asked. “It’s so quiet.”

“Exactly,” Sokka said. “There’s no life anywhere.” Sokka turned and saw Aang further ahead. The boy’s back was to him, but Sokka could see the sadness weighing down on the young airbender. “Aang, are you okay?”

“Fire Nation!” Touya yelled. Sokka cursed leaving his machete on Appa’s saddle as he whipped around with his boomerang ready. But Touya wasn’t getting attacked by any soldiers. Instead Touya was squatted in front of several pointy-looking footprints. “They’ve been here! I bet they were the ones who—“ 

“Touya hush,” Sokka said, pointing to Aang. Touya pouted and opened his mouth to say something, but deflated when he saw Aang. 

“Why would anyone do this?” Aang asked sadly. He kneeled down and grabbed a handful of ash. He mournfully watched it slip through his fingers. “How could I let this happen?”

“You didn’t let this happen, Aang,” Sokka said. “You couldn’t do anything to stop this.”

“I did! This is all my fault,” Aang cried. “It’s the Avatar’s job to protect nature, but I don’t know how to do that.”

“That’s why we’re going to the North Pole,” Touya said brightly. “We’re going to find you a teacher!”

“A waterbending teacher,” Aang clarified. “But there’s no one who can teach me how to be the Avatar. Monk Gyasto said Avatar Roku would help me.”

“But he died a hundred years ago,” Touya said. “How are you supposed to talk to him?”

“I don’t know,” Aang mumbled. Sokka settled next to Aang and put his arm around the younger boy’s shoulder. He saw Touya do the same thing and together they offered Aang comfort. They sat like that for a while, Appa behind them, Momo on Sokka’s shoulder and Aang in-between Touya and Sokka. While they sat there, Sokka’s mind was whirring. First, he wondered about Suki. He knew she would be okay, but that didn’t stop him from worrying about her. Then his thoughts turned to Nulia, his mother and Gran-Gran. He only told Gran-Gran that they were leaving to travel with Aang, but he knew Nulia would connect the dots. He was more worried about his mother. Like him, she was a worrier and he was afraid how she could cope with both of her sons gone. Maybe Gran-Gran would take care of her. 

Next, he thought about how Aang could talk to Avatar Roku. Sokka didn’t know much about the Spirit World, but he knew he had more experience than Touya and Aang combined. But the moon spirit only visited Sokka in his dreams and only on her terms. Sokka didn’t know when she would visit him and it only seemed that the lady appeared when something she deemed important was about to happen. First, it was when Sokka was little and he was about to die in the middle of the ocean. Second, it was right after he found Aang and started their journey. Maybe those events had some sort of cosmic spiritual importance. Or maybe he was just special and the moon spirit liked him a lot.

“How about we find a way to get you into the Spirit World?” Sokka said after a long silence.

“How do we do that?” Touya asked. 

“I don’t know, that’s why I said we have to find a way,” Sokka replied. “Maybe we can find like a spirit portal or something.”

“Do those even exist?” Aang asked. Touya shrugged, and then jumped up suddenly. He looked around, grabbed Momo and ran off. 

“I’ll be right back!” he yelled over Momo’s loud squeals. “Me and Momo have to do something!”

“Stay close!” Sokka yelled back, as he and Aang watched confusedly as Momo tried to claw his way out of Touya’s grip. Soon Touya disappeared into the forest of burnt trees. Sokka wanted to run after Touya, but he had the feeling that Aang needed him more. “Cheer up Aang, you’ll see Avatar Roku soon,” Sokka said. "But how? What kind of Avatar can’t even visit the Spirit World?” Aang muttered dejectedly. “One that’s twelve, untrained and entirely too hard on himself,” Sokka said bluntly. “It’s been a month and a half since we’ve left the South Pole and you woke up from the iceberg. You’re just going to need time. The war’s gone on for a hundred years, a few more won’t hurt.”

Aang nodded slowly, but his face was still set in a deep frown. Sokka squeezed Aang closer to give the younger boy comfort. Aang leaned his bald head on Sokka’s shoulder and sniffed pathetically. 

“Hey Aang, you ready to be cheered up?” Touya said as he ran back towards his brother and friend. Aang shook his head no, but Touya ignored that. Instead, an acorn found its way out of Touya’s hand and bouncing off Aang’s head. 

“Ow!” Aang exclaimed, rubbing his head. “How is that cheering me up?”

“Cheered me up,” Sokka chuckled. Then an acorn smacked his forehead. “Okay, I deserved that.”

“These acorns are everywhere!” Touya said, pulling handfuls out of his parka pockets. “That means the forest will grow back! …Right Sokka?”

Sokka nodded, understanding Touya’s point immediately. “Every one of those acorns will be a tall tree one day,” Sokka said. “And all the birds and animals that lived here will come back.” Aang picked up an acorn and gave a small smile. Footsteps crunching on the ashy ground stopped the tender moment in its tracks. Sokka jumped into a squatting position, brandishing his boomerang while pushing Aang and Touya behind him. 

“Who are you?” Sokka asked neutrally. The person approaching was a man with a long grey beard that seemed to feed into his hair and a shiny bald head. 

“When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me,” the man said while he hobbled past Sokka and towards Aang. Touya shot Appa a glaring pout at giving away their position. Appa started back impassively. Sokka frowned, they would have to find a way to conceal Appa from wandering eyes. “But those markings…” the man continued. “Are you the Avatar?”

Aang nodded. The man’s wrinkled face broke into a big smile. “Thank goodness,” he said. “My village desperately needs your help!”

“With what?” Touya asked.

“The village leader will explain, just come with me,” the man said, turning and starting to hobble back the way he came. Touya and Aang looked at Sokka, who just shrugged.

“It is the Avatar’s duty to help those in need,” he said, looking pointedly at Aang. The airbender broke into a big smile and he rushed after the old man. Touya ran back to grab Appa’s reins and led the bison after Aang and the old man. 

“We’re supposed to be undercover, Appa,” Sokka heard Touya say. “You can’t be so noticeable every time we fly.” Appa groaned in response and snorted. Touya rolled his eyes. “I know you’re a ten ton bison. But that’s no reason to be flashy.” Sokka sighed and approached Momo, who was busy digging into the ground and stuffing acorns into his mouth. “When did you jump off my shoulder?” he asked. Momo tried to look innocent and twittered sweetly. Sokka grabbed the lemur and followed his brother and Aang. The walk to the man’s village took the entire afternoon. Touya tried to get everyone to ride on Appa because that would have been much faster, but Sokka shot him down. If an old man with bad eyesight could spot Appa, then that crazy princess with the penchant for burning things could find them in no time. Sokka was actually starting to suspect that the reason she kept finding them was because of Appa sightings. 

“Just a little bit farther,” the man said as they entered the village. Sokka looked around and saw the sorry state of the man’s village. Houses were torn down to the beams and many buildings had holes torn into them. The village was just as quiet as the burnt forest had been and Sokka wondered if the Fire Nation had made it here too.

Finally, the old man led them into a large building at the far end of the village. Unlike the others, the building was untouched and full of families milling about. Some were huddled in blankets on the floor, and others were holed away into corners. “This young person is the Avatar,” the old man said to a younger and authoritative man who seemed like the village elder. 

“So the rumors of your return are true,” the younger man said. He gave Aang a deep bow. “It’s the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence.” 

“Nice to meet you too,” Aang returned the bow and gave the man a sweet smile. “So, is there something I can help you with?” 

“I’m…not sure,” the village elder said hesitantly. 

“The village is in crisis! He’s our only hope!” the old man insisted. The younger man held his head sadly while the old man continued. “For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He is Hei Bai, the black and white spirit.”

“Why is a spirit attacking you?” Sokka asked. As far as he knew, spirits didn’t attack humans and villages unless they were wronged greatly. According to his Gran-Gran’s stories, at least. 

“We don’t know,” the village elder sighed. “But each of the past three nights, Hei Bai has abducted one of our own. We’re especially fearful because the winter solstice is almost here.”

A pang went through Sokka’s heart. It was the winter solstice already? Where did the time go? “I don’t get it,” Touya asked. “What happens on the solstice?”

“Our world and the Spirit World merge,” Sokka explained.

“Right,” the old man said. “As the solstice approaches, the two worlds grow closer and closer until the line between them is blurred completely.” 

“Hei Bai is already causing devastation and destruction,” the village elder said. “There’s no telling what will happen once the solstice is here.”

“So what do you want Aang to do?” Sokka asked pointedly.

“The Avatar is the great bridge between man and spirit,” the old man said with a smile. “Who better to resolve a crisis between the two worlds?”

“Right…that’s me,” Aang said unconvincingly.

Sokka rolled his eyes. “Hey ‘Great Bridge’ guy, can I talk to you over here for a second?” Sokka asked, pulling Aang by a window out of earshot. “Aang, you can’t do this.”

“Why not?” Aang asked with a hurt look in his eyes.

“You don’t know anything about the Spirit World!” Sokka retorted. “And you said so yourself, there isn’t anyone to teach you this stuff. We should just politely decline and head towards the Northern Water Tribe. There’s bound to be someone there who knows about the spirits and Avatar Roku.”

“I can’t leave these people,” Aang said. “They need me. I couldn’t help the forest, but maybe I can help these people.” At Sokka’s unconvinced look, Aang gave a smile. “I’m sure whatever I have to do will just come to me, like that time on the ship.”

Sokka sighed as Aang walked away to give his agreement to the two men. “We’re all going to eaten by a spirit monster.”

“Don’t think like that,” Touya said, magically popping up next to Sokka. “Aang can do it, I believe in him. You should too, Sokka.”

“I do believe in Aang,” Sokka said. “But I know that there are some things he doesn’t know how to do. Like talk to spirits.”

Touya didn’t say anything, but he frowned. “It’s just about sunset,” the village elder said. “We need to prepare.” By preparing, the elder meant throwing Aang out of the large building and shutting the door behind him. Sokka peeked out of a window and saw Aang calling out for the spirit to appear. 

“This isn’t right,” Sokka said. “We can’t just sit here cowering while Aang waits for a monster to show up.”

“If anyone can save us, he can,” the old man said confidently. 

“He’s just a kid,” Sokka muttered as he watched Aang wander around the deserted village. The sun slowly set, making it harder to see. Sokka could barely make out Aang twirling his staff and then heading back. Despite the relieved look on Aang’s face, Sokka was still on edge. Something was whispering in his ears, something that sounded like a warning. Sokka looked up and saw a terrifying black and white creature following Aang. He heard Touya yelp behind him and the collective gasp of the villagers behind him. Aang seemed to sense everyone’s apprehension, because he turned around and came face to face with Hei Bai.

Sokka couldn’t hear what Aang was telling the creature, but Sokka guessed that wasn’t what Hei Bai wanted to hear because the creature screeched in Aang’s face and proceeded to destroy the rest of the village. Aang ran after the spirit, yelling helplessly as it continued to smash anything in its path.

“The Avatar’s methods are…unusual,” the village elder said while dodging some debris that had flown into the window.

“It’s not listening to him,” Sokka said. “Maybe we should go help him.”

“No!” the old man said sternly. “Only the Avatar stands a chance against Hei Bai.”

“Yeah,” Touya agreed. “Aang will figure out the right thing to do. Calm down.”

Sokka tried to calm down and let Aang handle it, but when Hei Bai threw Aang into a building, his resolve snapped. “That’s it, he needs help,” Sokka said, running out of the door.

“Sokka wait!” Touya cried, but Sokka continued running. He saw the dark figure of Hei Bai loom before him and for the first time, Sokka thought that maybe he should have stayed inside.

“Hei Bai!!” Sokka yelled. “Over here!” He grabbed a broken beam from a ruined house and threw it at Hei Bai. It didn’t budge.

“Sokka, get out of here!” Aang cried.

“I have more Spirit World experience than you do Aang!” Sokka retorted. “What were you going to do, reason with it? Cause that’s not working!”

“What else can I do? I don’t want to fight him unless—“ Unless what, Sokka would never know. Before Sokka could blink, he was grabbed by Hei Bai and rushing through the forest. He tried to hit the creature, but nothing was slowing it down. He couldn’t reach his boomerang and Sokka cursed because his machete was still on Appa’s saddle. “Hold on Sokka!” He heard Aang say and saw a flash of orange through the thick trees.

“Aang!” Sokka yelled back. “I’m over here!” Soon the trees fell away and they were in the scorched clearing they landed in. Aang held out his hand and Sokka pulled his arm out of Hei Bai’s grip. 

“Almost there!” Aang cried as their fingers brushed. With a final push, Sokka felt Aang’s warm hand in his own and for a moment, everything was going to be okay. Until the warmth fell away.

* * *

* * *

* * *

When the world faded back, Sokka found himself in a familiar place. He noticed the icy walls hadn’t changed a bit as he looked around the small room he shared with Touya. Strangely, the only cot in the room was his. Normally, Touya left his furs in a big pile on his cot and it was up to Sokka to put it away, but the only cot in the room was his. Maybe Touya had already put his away, or maybe their mother or Gran-Gran did it. He climbed out of his cot and headed towards the dining room. He saw the wizened form of his Grandmother in front of something bubbling. “Gran-Gran?” Sokka said in a small voice. She didn’t say anything, but she tilted her head. “Where’s Touya?”

Gran-Gran turned and gave Sokka a quizzical look. “Who?”

“Touya Water Tribe, of the Southern Water Tribe, little brother, kind of chubby with a messed up warrior’s wolf tail.”

Kanna raised an eyebrow. “Haven’t seen him,” she said and Sokka got the strangest feeling that she was being sarcastic.

“Fine, I’ll find him myself,” Sokka grumbled, shrugging to his parka. 

“Good luck,” Gran-Gran said as she turned back to her mindless stirring. Sokka hmph’d and stalked out of the hut. Everything outside looked… white. Sokka was an intelligent boy, especially considering his lack of formal education. He knew the Southern Water Tribe had an abundance of ice and ice happened to be white, but the sky… The sky was white as well. It was supposed to be blue, maybe a murky grey depending on the clouds, but there was little distinction between the ice and the sky. He couldn’t see Touya anywhere. Sokka picked a direction and walked and walked and walked. He trudged through the snow and ice while trying to yell, “Touya!” but he couldn’t hear his voice. The snow, ice and sky eventually melted together into nothingness, a sort of white fog, but Sokka continued to drag his feet against the ground. 

“Touya!” he cried. “Touya, where are you?” A strange feeling of forgetting someone settled over Sokka, but it was quickly pushed away by a sense of foreboding. Suddenly, Sokka saw a dark speck on the horizon and Sokka tried to run, but his legs were too heavy. As he got closer, Sokka saw that the figure was huddled over and in a worn blue parka. “Touya?” Sokka asked as he lightly tapped the figure on the shoulder. The figure turned and Sokka saw himself looking at familiar blue-grey eyes.

“Touya! I looked everywhere for you!” Sokka said. He threw his arms around his little brother and clung tight. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.” With a tight squeeze, Sokka let go of his brother and looked around. “Let’s get out of here,” he said. “As soon as we figure out where’s here..." 

Sokka grabbed Touya’s hand and started walking the way he came. "I think Gran-Gran is cooking some sea prune stew," Sokka said lightly, unnerved by Touya's unusual silence. "It's your favorite and I still have some jerky left over from when Aang burned yours." Sokka stopped abruptly. That feeling of forgetting someone returned tenfold as he tried to decipher what he said.

Aang.

Aang.

"AANG! Where is he!?" Sokka looked around wildly for a familiar bald head and blue arrows. All he saw was white mist. "Where's that black and white spirit and the villagers?" Sokka remembered. "Huh Touya?" Sokka asked desperately but when he looked down, he saw he wasn't holding Touya's hand. Light and slender, that was the hand he had dropped, one unlike the short and soft hand of his little brother. 

He looked up and looked into the brightest blue eyes he had ever seen. Her soft face broke into a smile when their eyes met and she rejoined their hands. Her beautiful hair was tied up into intricate braids with dangling blue beads. Whoever this was, this was not Touya. 

"The Avatar is in the Spirit World," she said in a dainty voice. 

"What about Touya?" Sokka said, but he could barely hear his own words. The voice of this girl filled the air around them, leaving no room for Sokka. "You were Touya, then you weren't." 

The girl only smiled and gripped his hand tighter. "Maybe we should go," she said serenely and pulled his hand. 

"I don't want to go anywhere with you. I don't know you."

"No," the girl said, slowly pulling him forward. "You know me, Sokka. You've always known me."

Sokka looked closely at the girl, at her beautiful eyes and silky hair. Something about her was comforting and familiar, but he couldn't place her.

"What's your name?" He asked. The girl looked back at him with an unreadable look and stayed silent. “Why aren’t you answering me?” Sokka asked. 

“You’re not ready for the answers I have,” she said, and Sokka felt something like a sigh surround his body. “But someday you will be. Until then, the Avatar and your brother need you.” They both fell silent and Sokka let the girl lead him into the mist.

The mist became thicker and thicker, so thick that the girl’s form was obscured from sight. As he continued to walk, the bleak whiteness darkened and Sokka started to feel something soft and fleeting caress his face. Soft sounds reached his ears, like the wind rustling the leaves and he smelled the sharp fresh scent of a forest. He continued to walk and the first thing he saw was the bright face of Touya.

“Sokka!” Touya cried, running towards his older brother. “You were trapped in the spirit world for twenty four hours!” He wrapped his arms around Sokka tightly. “I thought you weren’t ever going to come back.”

Sokka looked around and saw that many villagers were also embracing their lost ones, but he didn’t see the girl who had led him to the outside world. “Really?” Sokka asked in a raspy voice. “A whole day? It didn’t feel that long…”

“Avatar,” the village elder said, approaching Aang. “Thank you. If only there were some way to repay you for what you’ve done.”

“Some supplies would be nice,” Sokka offered.

“And some money!” Touya said. 

“Touya, we already have money,” Sokka said.

“So? We need more.”

The village elder chuckled. “It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey.” The elder bowed and headed back inside the large building to look for supplies. Sokka turned to Aang and gave the younger boy a smile.

“I’m really proud of you Aang,” he said. “You figured out what to do on your own.”

“Actually, I had a little help,” Aang said a little sheepishly before becoming solemn. “But there’s something else I need to tell you.”

“What?” Touya asked.

“I need to talk to Roku and I think I found a way to contact his spirit,” Aang responded.

“That’s great,” Sokka said. “But I sense a ‘but’ approaching.”

“There’s a temple on a crescent-shaped island and if I go there on the solstice, I can speak to Roku.”

“But the solstice is tomorrow!” Touya said.

“I know,” Aang agreed. “But that’s not the worst part.”

“Here we go,” Sokka sighed.

“The island is in the Fire Nation.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I have been working on this chapter for three months and I am sick of it. I've reached such a bad block that I just can't write anymore, but I think it's really unfair to you guys to keep waiting and waiting and waiting without saying anything. So as you can probably tell from the chapter title, this is the first half of chapter 9. I don't know if I'll post the second part in a completely new chapter or just overwrite this one once I'm done, but we'll see. Hopefully it won't take another three months to hammer out part 2 but I have no idea. I hope you guys liked this chapter and that it wasn't as horrible as I think it is.


	10. The Winter Solstice (Part 2)

“Aw, geez,” Wei muttered. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Actually he could, but he’d never thought he’d see the day. He supposed it was Yuta’s absence. He knew that she was the glue that held them together, but he didn’t think she was literally keeping them from falling apart. “Um, Azula are you alright?”

“Yes!” the princess said in a watery voice. “I’m fine.” Wei looked at Azula’s shiny red rimmed eyes, her rumpled clothes and her ruffled hair. He highly doubted her fineness, but he’ll let that one slide.

“What are you doing here?” He asked instead. “Shouldn’t you be resting until we get to the village where the Avatar was sighted?”

“I am resting,” Azula said petulantly. 

“You look like you’ve been crying,” Wei said bluntly as he looked around. “And you’re hunched over in the middle of a long and dark hall where anyone can see you.”

Azula furiously wiped her eyes. “There, now I’m okay.” Wei gave a big sigh. He wasn’t here for the banished princess, he didn’t like her family, but he couldn’t leave her hunched on the floor.

“You miss Yuta?”

“No!” Azula said quickly. “What makes you think that?”

“She’s your friend isn’t she?” Wei asked. “How long have you guys known each other?”

For a moment, Azula didn’t say anything. She just peered at Wei suspiciously. “Why are you asking me this? I thought you weren’t on my side.”

“I didn’t say that,” Wei placated. “I just said I was old.”

Azula’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she let out a loud sniff. “Nine years,” she answered after a slight hesitation.

“And you’re fifteen right?” Wei asked. Azula nodded. “Wow, that’s over half your life. No wonder you’re so upset.”

Azula didn’t reply, but she wiped at her watering eyes. “She’s doing this to help you. I don’t like it, but it is a sound plan for capturing the Avatar,” Wei said.

“I know, it’s just…”

“Just what? Yuta wants you to go home, that’s why she’s doing all this!”

“It just feels like she’s abandoned me,” Azula said in a small voice. “We’re supposed to be together.”

Wei immediately felt sheepish and rubbed the back of his head. He mentally kicked himself. Of course she’d take Yuta’s departure as abandonment, considering what happened to her, it was obvious. “Sometimes people leave the people they love, but it’s to help them,” Wei said. “She’s not abandoning you.”

“You don’t have to treat me like I’m seven,” Azula huffed. “I know that.”

“But did you really?” Wei asked. “Knowing something with your mind is different than knowing something with your heart.”

“Maybe you should have gone into philosophy,” Azula muttered.

“Once I retire,” Wei said cheerfully. “I just want you to be okay Azula, with or without Yu Lee.”

“You didn’t seem to care before.”

“Ah, that’s not true,” Wei lied. “I just have a reputation to uphold as your strict and aloof firebending teacher.”

“You’ve got bangs like a shih tzu,” Azula said dryly. “You sure look aloof.”

Wei chuckled and flipped his fringe. “You’re just jealous cause that guy cut off yours.”

Azula scowled and crossed her arms. “I’ll get him back, just you see! Sokka the filthy peasant will rue the day he ever cut my bangs! He will rue the day!!” She stood up suddenly and pumped her arms.

Wei flinched back before he started to laugh. “Wow, you sure are passionate about this Sokka guy.”

“He will pay,” Azula said solemnly. “Once we catch up with the Avatar, Sokka will pay for the wrongs he has committed.”

“Okay,” Wei chuckled. “I’m glad you’re in better spirits.” 

“Hmph,” Azula said. “Just don’t tell anyone I had…succumbed to tears in the middle of the hallway.”

“I make no promises,” Wei said cheekily. He was about to make another cheeky comment but the ship suddenly lurched. “I guess we’re there. We need to help Zhu-Qiang nail his dockings.” He stretched and started towards the deck without checking if Azula was following him.

“Who’s Zhu-Qiang?” Azula asked. Wei blinked, he didn’t even realize she was following him. He’d made her feel better, that was enough interaction until their firebending lesson tomorrow. 

“The navigator. Big head, glasses, squirrely body, talks too much,” Wei answered.

“Oh,” Azula said as she wrinkled her nose. “I remember him.”

Wei raised an eyebrow. He had no idea Azula even stepped into the cockpit. “He’s a little eccentric, but he’s really good at what he does.” 

Azula hmmed. Wei raised his other eyebrow, a skill his father had detested, but Azula didn’t elaborate on her mysterious hum. Wei mentally shrugged and continued on his merry way. He wondered if Azula knew that her crew consisted of disgraced naval officers, those who were too cowardly on the battlefield and the decent ones who owed Linh Wairen a favor and couldn’t resist the beguiling eyes of his youngest daughter. He couldn’t ponder that thought for long because once they arrived on the deck, he was bombarded by the crew.

“Who traded away my fish!?” Chao screeched, waving a soup ladle around wildly. Zhu-Qiang’s eyes blinked owlishly behind his glasses and he shrunk away from the heavyset cook. 

“So I think I’m dying and would like to be sent home,” a soldier covered in red hives said over his thick tongue. 

“I actually have a formal complaint!” another soldier said. He pointed at his shorter companion with disgust. “Rong can’t control his bodily fluids!”

Rong looked bashful and scuffed his feet against the metal ground. “I…I have really bad motion sickness and the ship makes me queasy,” Rong said softly.

Wei sighed and rubbed his temples. He didn’t sign up to be the babysitter to two dozen grown men. “Chao, there’s only so many days we can eat fish pudding in a row before we have a mutiny on our hands,” Wei said to the disgruntled cook. “Ping…let me write you a note telling your mother why you’re going home, okay?” Ping nodded and leaned against the railings with a heaving wheeze.

“Rong, Zhou,” Wei addressed the two soldiers. “I don’t care. Zhu-Qiang, where are we?”

“Well,” Zhu-Qiang twittered as he pushed his glasses up on his face. “We’re off the shore of Omashu. The Avatar has been sighted near Senlin village, which is about a few hours march on komodo rhino. At a brisk pace.”

"Then let's get some Komodo rhinos and go!" Azula said. "We don’t have time to worry about seasickness and fish!" 

Wei rolled his eyes and sighed. He wasn't going to give her a lecture about valuing the crew. As much as he loathed to admit it, she was right, they didn't have much time to find the Avatar. 

"How old is this information?" Wei asked Zhu-Qiang. 

"Maybe a day or two," the navigator replied. "A soldier based in one of those mining villages reported it. They saw the bison fly over and pass their village." 

Wei nodded. "Alright, ready the rhinos. The princess is right, we're short on time and the Avatar has a huge head start. We can't let Zhao find the Avatar before us." 

"Finally," he heard Azula mutter as she stalked off. Wei looked around and noticed the distinct lack of pink in his vicinity. "Where's Ty Lee?" He asked. 

"Haven't seen her since Yu Lee left," Ping said thickly. "I just want to say goodbye before I leave..." 

"Son," Wei said as he put a hand on Ping's shoulder. "She's out of your league." 

* * *

* * *

* * *

"He's where?" Azula asked flatly. 

"Well he said—" 

"I heard what you said!" Azula snapped. "But why? That doesn't make any sense." She turned to Wei so he'd explain, but the man shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me," he said. "Maybe this is a part of his master evasion plan. Go someplace we can't follow." 

"He said something about going to see Avatar Roku and having until the Winter Solstice to do so." 

Azula watched Wei rub his chin thoughtfully and looked at him expectantly. 

"Nope I got nothing," Wei said flippantly. "But we should go now if we want to catch up to the Avatar before he gets to the Fire Nation. Azula put the old man down." 

Azula glared at the balding man she held in her grip. "If I find out that you've given me the wrong information, I will come back and destroy everything you love." She dropped him unceremoniously and sneered as the old man paled at her threat. "Let's go," she said as she mounted her Komodo dragon. She watched Wei do the same and lead her beast back towards the ship. She wanted to ask Wei about the significance of Avatar Roku and the Winter Solstice but he seemed too lost in his own thoughts to pay her any mind. They rushed towards the ship and made it in record time. 

"Start the engines!" Azula yelled as she and Wei urged their tired rhinos onto the ship. "They're headed towards the Fire Nation and we're hours behind them! Full speed ahead!" Azula jumped off the rhino and ran towards the navigation room. "Set a course for—" 

"The Fire Nation, I heard," Zhu-Qiang said dryly. 

"Put the ship in high gear and hurry then," Azula growled. Zhu-Qiang pushed his glasses up on his face and grumbled as he pulled dials and pushed buttons. 

"I can't work with you breathing down my shoulder. I need at least three feet between myself and another person at all times. Four and a half feet if that person is a firebender due to the oppressive heat that constantly radiates off their bodies. You can tell who a firebender is based on their body temperature and the—"

"What did I say about talking to me?" Azula interrupted. Zhu-Qiang scowled and turned back to his dials. Azula huffed and stalked out of the navigation room. She went back onto the deck and saw Ty Lee, looking less exuberant than usual, talking to Wei, who looked confused. 

"But he's been dead for a hundred years, how is he supposed to talk to him?" Wei asked. 

"It's the solstice!" 

"What are you two talking about?" Azula asked. Ty Lee turned to Azula and the princess saw the dullness in the other girl's face. Maybe she was taking Yu Lee’s departure harder than everyone thought. 

"The Avatar is heading towards the Fire Nation to see Avatar Roku right?" Ty Lee asked. Azula and Wei nodded. "Then he's probably heading towards Crescent Moon Island." 

"Crescent Moon Island?" Wei asked. 

"Didn't you pay attention in school?" Azula scoffed. 

"I had tutors," Wei said smoothly. 

"Crescent Moon Island is where Avatar Roku learned fire bending or something like that. There's a temple dedicated to Roku that the Fire Sages maintain. I'm betting that's where the Avatar is headed." 

"But Roku has been dead for a hundred years. How is a dusty old temple going to help the Avatar?" Azula asked. 

"Today is the winter solstice," Ty Lee explained. She blinked at Azula’s and Wei’s blank looks. "You know, the day when the Spirit World and our world are super overlapped and people and spirits can cross over?" 

"That sounds like something Mother would believe in," Azula scoffed. "Silly superstitious mumbo-jumbo." 

Ty Lee rolled her eyes. "Whether it's true or not, the Avatar is headed towards Crescent Island and that's where we need to go." Ty Lee locked eyes with Azula. "But shouldn't you stay here?" 

Azula scowled. "Finding the Avatar is my duty. I can't let that fall onto anyone else." 

Ty Lee shrugged. "If you say so," she muttered. "Just don't get into trouble. Yu can't help you if you're in jail." 

"I will be fine," Azula said. "We're moving as fast as this hunk of iron will go. We'll make it." 

"In several more hours," Wei said. He looked into the starry sky and furrowed his brow at the full moon. "We should get some rest. I don't think we'll make it until mid-morning at the very least. We've been barreling through since yesterday. We got a lot done." 

“We don’t have time to rest!” Azula cried. “We need—“

“To find the Avatar, yes we know Azula,” Ty Lee said. “But there’s nothing we can do until we get to the Fire Nation so get some sleep.” Ty Lee stomped off the deck and descended into the bowels of the ship. 

“What crawled up her poofy pants and died?” Azula muttered as she crossed her arms. 

“She’s probably upset because Yu Lee is gone,” Wei shrugged. “But I’m going to take Ty Lee’s advice and take a nap.” He gave Azula a half-hearted wave and went deeper into the ship. Azula sighed and followed Wei off the deck. She’d find some way to fill up her time. She went into her mediation room and lit all of the candles. Sitting cross legged, she took a deep breath and exhaled. She repeated the motion again and again and again, until she felt her mind lighten and her conscious fill with blissful emptiness. 

“The bison has been sighted! I repeat; THE BISON HAS BEEN SIGHTED!!” 

Azula shot up and hit her head on the low desk that held all her candles. She turned around wildly and saw Rong’s round face flushed with excitement. “I wasn’t asleep,” Azula said threateningly, as if daring Rong to say otherwise. 

Rong blinked in confusion before furrowing his brow. “The Avatar’s bison is in the sky right now!!” Rong said before he scrambled off in the direction of the deck. Azula’s scowl melted off her face as she got to her feet and ran after Rong. As soon as she ran onto the deck, someone handed her a telescope and she peered into it. The silhouette of the Avatar’s flying bison greeted her. “Finally,” she said. “I have you in my grasp.” 

“Of all the foolish things you’ve done, I think this takes the cake Azula,” Wei muttered as he sauntered behind her. Azula shot him a glare, but quickly turned back to the telescope.

“I have no choice,” she said.

“You always have a choice,” Ty Lee said darkly. Azula briefly wondered where the girl came from, but her attention was drawn back to the bison.

“Once we explain to my uncle that I was chasing the Avatar, he’ll understand why I came back,” Azula said. 

“You don’t know your uncle as well as you think you do,” Ty Lee said cryptically. 

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Azula cried. Almost immediately, the ship lurched forwards and the wind was whipping Azula’s bangs back. “Get the catapults! Somebody get the catapults!” A few soldiers ran towards the back of the deck and pulled the catapults from within their storage area.

“I want you to fire on my mark,” she said as she saw the catapults out of the corner of her eyes. 

“One.” Wei shook his head and shrugged at Ty Lee. 

“Two.” Ty Lee crossed her arms with a dark look on her face. 

“Fire!” Azula watched the flaming ball of tar sail through the air and narrowly miss the flying bison. “Fire another one!” she spat. 

“Um, we have a problem,” Wei said. Azula looked at where he was pointing and her eyes widened. 

“A blockade?” Azula asked. “A freaking blockade!?” 

“Technically, we’re still in Earth Kingdom waters,” Ty Lee said. “If we turn back now, we won’t be arrested!” 

“Maybe the Avatar will go around the blockade,” Azula hoped. “If we sail north fast enough, I bet we can avoid the blockade. There’s no way he’ll run the blockade.” 

“Azula, he’s running the blockade.” 

She bit back a sullen sigh and fought the urge to hang her head in defeat. Of course the Avatar would run the blockade. He clearly was a master of evasive maneuvering, no matter what Yu Lee said. “We’ll run the blockade too!” 

“Are you insane!?” Ty Lee screeched. “Even if by some miracle you aren’t arrested, there’s no way we’d make it past those ships!” 

“Azula, we need to turn around,” Wei stressed. “If the Fire Nation captures you, there’s nothing I can do. I’ve just about exhausted my favors with the Fire Lord.” 

“Run. The. Blockade.” Azula said stubbornly. Wei shook his head as the ship continued to speed towards the blockade. He muttered something darkly and kept running his hands through his hair. Instead of paying attention to him, Azula turned back towards the blockade and her jaw dropped. The sky was on fire and the stink of burning tar filled the air. “You have got to be kidding me,” she said softly. She glanced up and saw the bison deftly avoid the multitude of fireballs flung across the sky. Many of the fireballs then fell into the water, except for one. The ship shook on impact, sending Ty Lee, Wei and some soldiers to the ground. Azula stumbled, then grabbed a catapult to keep herself upright. 

“Princess Azula!” Zhou cried. “The engines are damaged! We need to stop and make repairs!” 

“If you stop this ship, I’ll throw you overboard!” Azula yelled back. “Don’t stop this ship!” 

“You're gonna kill us,” Ty Lee moaned morosely. 

Azula saw her engine room burst into barely containable flames. “We’ll be fine,” she said simply. She turned back towards the blockade and watched as the ships slowly widened the gap between them. The blockade had stopped firing and the Avatar was smoothly sailing past the row of ships. As her ship passed the closest cruiser, she locked eyes with an impassive Zhao. She scowled at him, but he didn’t meet her gaze for long. He turned to Wei, who had righted himself and stood regally, and Ty Lee, who glowered from the ground. A ghost of a smirk settled on his face as they passed safely. 

“Curiouser and curiouser,” Wei muttered thoughtfully. Azula ignored him. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

“Are we there yet?” Touya asked. 

“NO TOUYA WE AREN’T THERE!!” Aang snapped. 

An uncomfortable silence filled the air for a second before Touya replied, “No need to get all snippy…”

Sokka sighed and gazed at the orange sky. They had been flying since late last night and everyone was tired and on edge. Momo had sprawled across the saddle, Touya dangled his legs off the side of Appa and every so often, Appa dropped a few feet. Although he was on edge for the first few hours after they flew through the blockade, Sokka felt his eyes droop with boredom. He almost wished that crazy princess was still behind them. 

“There it is!” Aang said suddenly. Touya and Sokka shot up and peered over Appa’s saddle. “That’s the island where Roku’s dragon took me.” It was a long thin island, in the shape of a crescent and riddled with volcanic rock. At the widest part of the island, a smoking volcano spewed slow moving lava down its sides. A small black-stoned temple stood on a ridge next to the volcano. They gently descended on a rocky shore free of lava. As soon as the trio had jumped off of Appa, the bison groaned and rolled onto his back. “Aww,” Touya giggled. “You must be tired.” He rubbed soothing circles on Appa’s belly. 

“Good job buddy!” Aang said. “Nice flying!” 

“You really came through when we needed you Appa,” Sokka agreed. Momo scrambled onto Sokka’s shirt and chattered insistently. “You did good too Momo. Thanks…for the emotional support.” Appeased, Momo climbed into Sokka’s shirt and settled there. Sokka turned towards the shrine and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t see any guards.” 

“Maybe they all left because there’s lava everywhere,” Touya shrugged. 

“It’s almost sundown!” Aang stressed. “We need to hurry!” He grabbed his staff from Appa’s saddle and ran towards the temple. Up close, the temple was decorated with golden flames darkened with soot and a fine layer of ash covered everything. They tip toed into the temple and arrived at a large chamber with pillars stylized as flames. “You know, I’m sensing a theme here,” Sokka said. 

“Hush!” Touya whispered loudly. “I think I heard something. I think it came from over—“ Touya’s sentence ended with a loud squeak and Sokka whirled around. He saw a group of old Fire Nation men with ridiculously tall red hats. 

“We are the Fire Sages,” said a very wrinkly and sour old man. “Guardians of the temple of the Avatar.” 

“That’s great!” Aang said brightly. “I am the Avatar!” 

“We know,” the same sage said. He took a deep breath before throwing a blast of fire in their direction. Aang deflected it with his staff. With a nimbleness only a master airbender could pull off, Aang sent an airbending slice at the sages’ legs and turned to his friends. “Run!” Aang turned to run and Sokka grabbed Touya’s arm as they fled deeper into the temple. “If the airbender contacts Roku, there’s no telling how powerful he’ll become!” Sokka heard the sour sage say. “Split up and find him!” 

“Follow me,” Aang said as he passed his friends and made a sharp turn. 

“How do you know where you’re going?” Touya asked. Aang sped back towards the siblings and gave them a worried look. “I don’t,” he admitted and Sokka slapped his forehead. Despite not knowing where to go, Aang rounded another turn, only to quickly dash back. “Wrong way!” 

“Come back!” said a sage who was right on Aang’s heels. Sokka dragged Touya after Aang, only to realize that the airbender had led them to a dead end. With a steel resolve, Sokka brandished his machete and turned to face the sage. 

“Hold on!” the sage said fearfully. “I don’t want to fight! I’m a friend!” 

“Firebenders aren’t our friends!” Touya cried. Sokka pushed his younger brother behind him. 

The sage dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the floor. “Please, I’m not here to fight,” he repeated. “I know why you’re here Avatar.” 

“You do?” Aang asked, surprised. 

“You wish to speak to Avatar Roku,” the sage said as he rose from the floor. “I can take you to him.” 

“But he’s been dead for a hundred years,” Touya pointed out. In response, the sage grabbed a wall-mounted light and slid it back to reveal a small square. He sent a stream of flame into the hole and a door leading to a descending staircase appeared. “This way,” the sage said.

“Are you really going to trust this guy?” Sokka asked as Aang stepped towards the door. 

“This is our best chance,” Aang said. “It’s almost sunset and I need to speak to Avatar Roku.” Sokka scowled for a few seconds, before he sheathed his weapon and followed Aang and the sage into the passage. He heard the door slide shut after Touya’s entrance and the sage led them down a rocky passageway. 

“My name is Shyu,” the sage said. “I am one of a long line of Fire Sages, guardians of the Avatar’s temple.” 

“Did you know Avatar Roku?” Touya asked. Sokka elbowed his brother sharply. “Ow! He looks old enough,” Touya muttered. 

“No,” Shyu chuckled. “But my grandfather knew him. Avatar Roku once called this temple home. He was actually the one to form these secret passages.” 

“How did you know I was coming?” Aang asked. 

Shyu sighed. “A few weeks ago, an amazing thing occurred. The eyes of Avatar Roku’s statue began to glow!” 

“A few weeks ago?” Sokka wondered. “That was when we were at the Air Temple. When Aang—um, I mean the statues’ eyes glowed there too.” Shyu looked at Sokka with a confused look, but the boy only gave a stony gaze in return. Shyu looked away embarrassedly and turned back to Aang. 

“It was at that moment, we knew you had returned,” Shyu said, regaining his composure. 

“I don’t get it,” Touya said while he crossed his arms. “If this is the Avatar’s temple, why did the sages attack Aang?” 

Shyu looked down and gave a heavy sigh. “Once, the sages were only loyal to the Avatar. When Roku died, the sages eagerly waited for the next Avatar to appear. But he never did.” 

Aang’s shoulders slumped and it was his turn to look down. “They were waiting for me.” A heavy, still silence settled over the four at Aang’s comment. Although Shyu didn’t voice it, upset accusation was clearly written on his face, and Aang knew it. 

“Hey, you’re only a hundred years late,” Sokka said in an sarcastic attempt to lighten the mood. Touya and Aang whipped around and gave Sokka matching scowls. Sokka inwardly groaned, they were becoming more and more alike by the day. 

“Eventually they lost hope,” Shyu continued softly. “When Fire Lord Sozin began the war, he forced my grandfather and the other sages to follow him. Azulon and Iroh only continued the tradtion.” Shyu stopped and for a moment, the wrinkles on his face were deeper and drawn with a great sadness. “I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord, but when I learned you were coming, I knew I would betray the other sages.” 

“Thank you,” Aang said sincerely. Shyu gave Aang a soft smile. “Serving the Avatar was always my dream,” he said. “Thank you for making it come true.” This time, a companionable silence settled between the four as they hiked up the steep stairs. To their immediate rights, flowed a sluggish river of lava. The heat was nearly overbearing, but Sokka marveled at the slowly bubbling flow of molten rock. The stairs continued to descend for a few more feet, until they sharply lead up a spiraling staircase. “We’ll follow these stairs to the sanctuary,” Shyu said. Touya groaned loudly and Aang looked like he wanted to join in. Sokka took a deep breath and took the first step. 

“Once you’re inside, wait for the light to hit Avatar Roku’s statue,” Shyu said as they neared the top of the stairs. “Only then will you be able to speak to him.” 

“Oh great, I can’t wait,” Sokka said dryly and breathlessly. 

“We’re almost there,” Shyu said with a smile. Sokka glared back. How could the sage stand all of these stairs? Sokka was a quarter of Shyu’s age, fit and relatively handsome and he felt like his legs were going to fall off. Shyu reached the top before them and pushed away a tile. The tile slid against the celling easily and the sage climbed onto the top floor of the temple. “No!” 

Aang ran the rest of the way and jumped over the edge. “What’s wrong?” Aang asked. 

“The sanctuary doors are closed!” Shyu cried in distress. Sokka looked at the door and scrunched his nose at it. Not only did the Fire Nation utterly obsessed with fire, it was also obsessed with snakes. “Only a fully realized Avatar can open this door alone!” 

“As you can see, we don’t have a fully realized Avatar here,” Sokka said bitterly. 

“Five simultaneous fire blasts will open the door,” Shyu said. 

“Right, because two Water Tribe boys, an airbending Avatar are master firebenders,” Sokka muttered. 

“Your friend has a very negative attitude,” Shyu snapped to Aang. 

“No, it’s okay,” Aang said. “He gets cranky and sarcastic when he’s tired.”

“He’s going to have a good idea soon,” Touya said as Sokka scowled. “Just watch.” 

“Stop talking about me,” Sokka grumbled. He walked over to the large door and peered into the snake heads. “Five simultaneous fire blasts huh…? Shyu, I need some oil, some bags and some twine!”

Shyu blinked. “Why do you think we’d have those things lying around a temple?” 

“Do you have it or not?” Sokka spat. “Come on, the fate of the world depends on it!”

“Yes, they’d be in the storage closet,” Shyu said with only the slightest hint of irritation. “Follow me.” Shyu led them around a corner to a small door. “We have one of these on every floor. Usually it’s for—“ 

“I don’t care,” Sokka said. He pushed past Shyu and grabbed several small tarps, bits of twine and a few canisters of oil. “So here’s what I’m thinking,” Sokka said as he walked back towards the doors. “We soak the twine in the oil, pour the rest of it into the tarps, tie them up, put them in the snake mouths and light them on fire. Then volia! Fake firebending!”

“Wow, that’s really smart,” Touya said in awe. “I knew you’d come up with an idea!”

“You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Sulkka,” Aang snickered. Sokka shot Aang a glare, but the airbender gave Sokka a wide grin in return. 

“This…just might work,” Shyu said. “I’m sorry I doubted you Sulkka.” “That’s not my—“ Sokka gave an exasperated sigh. “Let’s just do this before the other sages find out we’re up here.” The other three nodded and helped Sokka create the miniature bombs. One by one, they each put a bomb into the mouths of the five snakes. 

“The sages will hear the explosion, so as soon as they go off, you rush in,” Shyu said to Aang. He nodded and ran behind a large pillar. Sokka helped Touya push his bomb into the snake mouth and dragged the boy behind another pillar. Momo glided above Touya’s head and Sokka grabbed the lemur and stuffed him down his tunic. ”Don’t give away our position, Momo,” Sokka said. Momo trilled and scrambled to poke his head out of Sokka’s shirt.

“Are you ready Aang,” Touya asked, peeking over Sokka to look at Aang. “It’s almost sunset.”

“Definitely!” Aang replied. With that as affirmation, Shyu sent a small blast of fire across the oil-soaked twine. They caught flame immediately and Shyu rushed to find cover. As the sage said, the bombs caused a deafening explosion and a lot of noxious smoke. Touya covered his mouth to muffle his coughs and Momo ducked his head. Aang ran towards the doors and pulled at the handle.

“They’re still locked!” Aang cried. 

A heavy sigh settled on the group. “It didn’t work…” Shyu said sadly. They all turned to Sokka with expectant looks in their eyes. Sokka faltered. He didn’t expect for his plan to fail. Maybe there was something Shyu wasn’t telling them. “Um,” Sokka said. He went to the door and examined the soot left behind by the bombs. Touya trailed behind and put his finger on the soot.

“I don’t get it,” Touya said. “The explosions looked pretty strong to me.”

“As strong as any firebending we’ve seen,” Aang agreed morosely. 

“You two are geniuses!” Sokka exclaimed.

“I don’t think we should trust your judgement,” Aang said glumly. “Your plan didn’t work.”

“What!?” Sokka spluttered. “Plans aren’t fool-proof you know. I did the best with the knowledge I had.” Sokka looked pointedly at Shyu. “Anyway, you’re right. My plan didn’t work, but it looks like it did.”

“How does that make us geniuses?” Touya asked. “I’m confused.” Sokka slapped his forehead. He wasn’t going to try to explain anything to these two. At least not now, when they possibly had four other sages on their tail and a rapidly approaching sunset to deal with. 

“I’ll explain later Touya,” Sokka said. “Right now, I have another plan. Shyu, go find the other sages and bring them here. The door needs five simultaneous fire blasts to open right? We’ll get the sages to do it for us!”

Shyu gave a big smile. “You are very intelligent Sulkka. You would be one of the Fire Nation’s greatest tacticians.” 

He knew Shyu was trying to give him a compliment, but Sokka still felt a disgusting pit at bottom of his stomach. “I’d rather not,” Sokka muttered. “We’ll go hide behind these pillars. Hurry and go Shyu!”

The older man nodded and ran out of the chamber. “Hey Sokka?” Touya asked after a short pause. “Why don’t we put Momo through the pipes so he’ll be in the room? Then they’ll see Momo’s shadow and think it’s Aang.”

“That’s a great idea Touya,” Sokka said. Touya brightened and yanked Momo out of Sokka’s shirt. With a fluidness Sokka could only attribute to waterbenders, Touya pushed Momo into a snake mouth. Momo gave a distressed trill as Touya pushed. “Suck in your gut Momo!” Touya said. “Suck it in like a man!”

“He’s a lemur,” Aang whispered loudly, but Touya didn’t let that stop him. With a giant heave, Touya pushed Momo into the snake head and with a few more distressing whimpers, Momo was scrambling at the other side of the door.

“Come quickly!” came Shyu’s distant voice. Touya jumped and scrambled back to the pillar, just as Shyu lead the other Fire Sages into the chamber. “The Avatar has entered the sanctuary!”

“How did he get in?” asked the old wrinkly sage. 

“I don’t know,” Shyu said. “But look at the scorch marks!” The sages looked intently at the soot and scowled. One of the younger sages gasped and pointed to the bottom of the door. “Look at that shadow! It’s the Avatar!” the young sage said. Shyu’s eyes widened and he looked at the other sages in disbelief. 

“He’s inside!” The wrinkly sage said. “Open the doors before he contacts Roku!” The men fell into a firebending stance and out of the corner of his eye, Sokka saw Aang move into position. Their eyes met and Sokka nodded. Aang gave a determined smile and focused his attention back on the door. The sages punched a stream of fire into the snakes and with a groaning creak, the doors unlocked. They opened theatrically, only to reveal a soot covered and downcast Momo. 

“It’s a lemur,” the young sage said in disbelief. 

“It must have crawled from the pipes!” The wrinkly sage said. “We’ve been tricked!!” With a mighty chirp, Momo leaped onto the sage’s head and Sokka ran out to subdue the young sage. Touya jumped on the back of another sage and they both crumpled to the ground. Shyu grabbed another sage and put him in an arm hold. “Aang, go!” Shyu cried. They all looked to the pillar Aang was behind and blinked.

“Aang, we’re giving you a golden opportunity,” Sokka said after a moment of silence. Then, as if he were in a terrible dream, Aang slowly stepped away from the pillar, with a strange man holding his arms. 

“The Avatar is coming with me,” the man said with a cruel smirk. Sokka gasped and felt his captive try to struggle free. With a scowl, Sokka grabbed his boomerang and whacked it upside the young sage’s head. The man fell with a thud. 

“I don’t think so!” Sokka cried as he rushed the man. The man didn’t anticipate the attack and in his haste to defend himself, he dropped Aang’s arms. That didn’t escape Sokka’s notice. “Aang go!” Sokka yelled as he raised his boomerang. The man scowled and sent a blast of flame towards Sokka’s head. Sokka dodged and struck the man. “No!” the man cried and Sokka knew that Aang had went inside the doors. A heavy clank reached Sokka’s ears and a bright light filled his vision, but for only a moment. Sokka looked up and saw the man snarling and sending another fire blast towards him. Sokka dodged yet again and settled into a fighting pose. They circled each other slowly.

“I didn’t expect to be stopped by a Water Tribe rube,” the man said nastily. “Though judging by your rags, you’re from the Southern Tribe. Tell me, how are the waterbenders doing?” 

Sokka growled and lunged at the man again. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the man smirked. “Look behind you.”

Sokka turned around and saw something that stopped his heart. Touya’s eyes tear-filled eyes reflected the flame held inches from his face. Two skull faced soldiers held Shyu and Touya and more were filling into the room by the second. “Stand down before I have his face melted off.” The man smirked as Sokka exhaled sharply from his nose. 

"This is between me and you," Sokka said through clenched teeth. "Leave him out of this." 

"Burn the boy," Zhao said flippantly. 

"No! Stop!" Sokka cried over Touya's anguished yelp. "I'm done," Sokka said with resignation as he stuffed his boomerang away. 

“Good,” Zhao said with a cold smile. Sokka didn’t resist as the soldiers grabbed him and pushed him roughly towards a pillar. With chains supplied from somewhere, the soldiers tied Sokka, Touya and Shyu to the pillar. “Now let’s—“ 

“I have you now Avatar!” yelled a high pitched voice. Princess Azula ran to the top of the stairs in a breathless tizzy only to look at the scene before her in shock. She looked at Sokka as if she couldn’t believe he was in chains, before turning to the man with angry accusation in her golden eyes. “How did you get here before I did Zhao? Wei was supposed to confuse you with the smoke!”

The man, Zhao, chuckled and waved his hand towards Azula. “As if your silly little smokescreen could fool me. But you’re in serious trouble, aren’t you Princess Azula?” The angry look on her face shifted into something Sokka could only call terrified. Zhao saw it too. “Get her!” Zhao said. “I’m certain the Fire Lord will understand why you betrayed him.”

The soldiers grabbed Azula’s arms arms and yanked them behind her. "Two traitors in one day," Zhao said. "How extraordinary." Zhao turned to Shyu with slight confusion on his face. "I understand Azula’s betrayal, but why did you help the Avatar?" 

"It was once the sages' duty to serve the Avatar," Shyu said sadly. "It is still our duty." 

Sokka glanced at the princess and he saw her gaze at Shyu thoughtfully. Zhao scoffed. "How moving, truly," Zhao drawled. "But it won't do you much good. Once the Avatar leaves that room, we'll capture him and you all will be taken to the Fire Lord in chains." 

"How are we gonna get out of this one Sokka?" Touya asked with a sniffle. Sokka shook his head and Touya sniffed again. He wanted to comfort his little brother, but Sokka was still shaken from seeing that fire next to Touya's face. He didn't know how he was going to get out of the chains, but he knew that he was going to make Zhao pay. Sokka felt the chains rustle and turned to see Azula being fastened to the pole. "Don't say anything," she muttered to Sokka. 

"Who's he?" Sokka asked, tilting his head to Zhao. Azula stayed silent, clearly torn between talking to her worse enemy and silently sulking. 

"Commander Zhao," Azula finally said. "He's a stupid hot shot who managed to sleep his way to being a commander." 

"Really?" Sokka asked, doubting Azula’s story. 

"He had to! There's no way the Fire Lord would promote Zhao unless he su—" 

The door started to creak again and a bright light filled the room. Sokka closed his eyes against the light and he heard coughing as smoke filled the chamber. "Get to the door!" Sokka heard Zhao yell. "Unleash all your firepower when when I say!" The soldiers rushed towards the door and settled into firebending poses. 

"No, Aang!" Touya cried between coughs. The light begun to fade and more smoke wafted in the room. "Fire!" Zhao yelled. Concentrated streams of fire headed towards the doors and Sokka had to close his eyes. He had failed. He had lost Katara, he had almost lost Touya and now he had lost Aang. The only hope for the world had fallen in a fiery inferno. And he didn't even know how to waterbend yet. 

A still hush fell over the chamber and on his left, he heard Princess Azula mutter, "You have got to be kidding me." Sokka opened his eyes and saw something that dropped his jaw. Standing just as majestic as his statue, was a faintly glowing Avatar Roku. He held a swirling mass of fire and with a hard gaze from his glowing eyes, he sent the fire out in a loose ring. Zhao, the sages and the skull faced soldiers got the brunt of Avatar Roku's powers and were blasted back. When the ring approached Sokka, he felt a stifling heat that stole all the air from his lungs, but he was mysteriously unhurt. The same couldn't be said for his bonds, which melted and freed himself, Touya, Shyu and Azula. 

An ominous rumbling filled the air. "Avatar Roku is going to destroy the temple!" Shyu said worriedly. Sokka looked around and saw the pillars and wall start to crumble. "We have to get out of here!" 

"Not without Aang!" Sokka said. He started to approach Avatar Roku when Roku melted the ground with a sweep of his arms. Lava burst from the walls and seeped through the holes on the floor. Roku took a deep breath, pulling in the smoke and ash from the air, and disappeared, leaving a very exhausted Aang. Sokka leaped over a hole and lifted Aang into his arms. "Don't worry Aang," Sokka said as he ran towards the stairs. Everyone had already left, except for a frightened looking Touya.

Sokka grabbed Touya’s hand and dragged his brother and friend down the crumbling temple stairs. Still figures decked in military uniforms lay on the stairs, serving as morbid obstacles. "Sokka..." Touya said worriedly. 

"Let's go," Sokka replied stonily as he stepped over another body. Touya didn't say another word and Aang was too out of it to pay much attention to his surroundings. Touya’s apprehension was palpable, but Sokka just clutched his brother’s hand tighter and made sure they reached the first floor. They left the temple in one piece, although the same couldn’t be said for the temple. As the trio was halfway to the beach, the temple crumbled on itself in a fiery mass of lava. “I did that…” Aang muttered softly, and Sokka couldn’t help but think that a temple had no place in the Fire Nation. Luckily for them, there were no soldiers in sight, making Sokka think that they had docked on the other side of the island. When Appa came into view, he was staring at the ruins of the temple with an almost sad look on his face. He let out a relieved groan when he saw Sokka, Aang and Touya run down the beach.

“Appa!” Touya cried, breaking from the formation and rushing to the large bison. “I missed you,” he muttered while giving Appa a big hug. “Were you going to come save us if we didn’t get out in time?” Appa let out an affirmative bellow. Sokka gave Appa a quick smile and pushed Aang into Appa’s saddle.

“Sorry to cut the reunion short, but we need to go now,” Sokka said insistently. Touya nodded and climbed onto Appa’s saddle with Aang. “Get ready Appa!” Touya said.

“Not so fast,” a deep voice snarled. Sokka whipped around and saw a disheveled Zhao storming towards them. “I will not accept this failure,” Zhao said. “You won’t escape me!” He sent out a large fireball right at Appa, Touya and Aang. Time seemed to slow down as a boiling hot rage strummed though Sokka’s body and he clenched his fists. After everything this terrible man had done, compounded with the ordeals he’d been put through during the past few days, Sokka was in no mood to entertain Zhao.

A strange tranquility filled Sokka, complimenting the rage and he loosened. He didn’t know what he was doing, but it felt right. His legs were firmly in the sand and his arms were wide and loose. With a heavy push, Sokka threw his arms towards the fireball. A large stream of water followed his arms and doused the flames immediately. Zhao’s eyes widened almost comically as the water hit him and pushed him back. Sokka gasped and looked at his hands in shock. He whipped to look at Touya, who looked just as surprised. 

“We were supposed to get them all!” Zhao screamed from the ground. “This isn’t possible!” Zhao slipped on the wet sand as he tried to get up. 

“Come on!” Touya yelled. Sokka snapped into action and heaved himself up onto Appa’s head. “Yip-yip!” Touya cried from the saddle and Appa lifted into the air with a sweep of his broad tail. Sokka grabbed onto the reigns tightly as they soared above the clouds and away from the Fire Nation. Zhao’s scream of rage was small and insignificant to the revelation that the trio faced.

“Since when could you waterbend?” Aang asked in a soft voice. 

“I don’t know,” Sokka replied, looking at his hands again. “I don’t know. I had no idea.”

“Well that’s okay!” Touya chirped. “Now all three of us can learn waterbending together!” Touya grinned at Aang, who grinned back, and Sokka, who gave a weak smile back. 

“Now we have to go to the North Pole!” Touya said cheerfully. Sokka almost giggled before he realized something.

“Where did Momo go!?” Sokka yelled. Touya and Aang wildly looked around for their lemur friend. “Did we leave him in the temple!?” Aang cried. He dug into their packs, calling for Momo.

“Nooooo, Momo’s gone!” Touya wailed as he burst into tears. Sokka reached over to give Touya a hug, but white furry ears stopped him. Momo popped out from within Sokka’s shirt and trilled confusingly. 

“Ah-“ Sokka stuttered. “How did you get in there without me noticing?” Sokka asked Momo. Momo blinked large green eyes and climbed out to jump onto Touya’s lap. Touya blubbered for a few more moments before he huddled Momo to his chest. 

“I thought you were dead!” Touya cried. Momo squawked and squeezed out of Touya’s grip. He jumped back to Sokka and dug into his shirt. With a triumphant purr, Momo brandished the hat that the wrinkly sage was wearing. Momo plunked it on Touya’s head and jumped into Aang’s lap.

“I think that hat looks really good on you Touya,” Sokka joked.

“Yeah, it really brings out your eyes,” Aang snickered as he scratched behind Momo’s ears. Touya pouted and crossed his arms. He opened his mouth to say something, but settled for pouting and scooting into his own little corner of Appa’s saddle.

“Let’s just get to the North Pole,” he muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It only took me a month to hammer this out this time, hurray! Anyway, this is the second part of Chapter 9: The Winter Solstice AKA the chapter in which I completely abandon any notion whatsoever of keeping Ty Lee in character. I'm not sure if I mentioned this in the author's notes, but this is a retelling of the series and I'm going through the series episode by episode. But as you saw in this chapter, things aren't going to be exactly the same. As we get farther into Team Avatar's journey, little decisions made in these early chapters will have huge consequences later on. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you all for being so patient with me and the updates. I hope it's all worth it.


	11. Left Behind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12/08/2015- Edit: I've tried to go through and edit the mistakes and grammar issues in this chapter. Note that I may have missed some, but I'm updating it so you won't have to be bombarded with grammar and formatting issues. I'm still working on Chapter 11!

For the thousandth time, Sokka looked down on his hands, as if his body had changed overnight. His nails were still stubby. His fingers were still long and knobby. His palms were still covered in old scars and rough with calluses. They didn’t look like Touya’s hands, small, wide and soft. They looked like his father’s hands, someone who didn’t have any weird spirit magic to use. Logically, Sokka knew that he shouldn’t be so surprised; considering that he had two younger siblings who both happened to be waterbenders, despite there not being any benders in the South Pole for nearly sixty years, it really wasn’t a leap to assume that he was too. But Katara had started moving water when she was two and a half and Touya first waterbended when he was eight. Sokka was seventeen, and he waterbended for the first time only a few scant hours ago.

Something wasn’t right and he wanted to ask Aang about it, but the airbender was too busy wearing a hole into Appa’s saddle. “You pacing won’t get us there any faster,” Sokka told Aang. “You should just sit down.” 

“I can’t sit down!” Aang cried. “How can you guys just sit there so nonchalantly?” 

“Because you didn’t tell us what’s bothering you,” Touya said flatly. “We kinda just ran here from the crumbling temple, got chased by that guy with the sideburns, Sokka waterbended, jumped on Appa and flew away.” 

“Oh, right,” Aang said. “I didn’t tell you what Avatar Roku said.” 

“No you didn’t,” Touya muttered. “We only almost died and lost Momo. No I don’t want to know what Avatar Roku said.” 

Aang and Sokka shared an amused glance. “What did he say Aang?” Sokka asked.

The slight smile on Aang’s face was quickly replaced by a look of worry. “I’m supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives.”

“You’ve already mastered airbending and we’re only a few weeks away from the North Pole and—“ 

“Wait a second,” Sokka said as he interrupted Touya. “What comet?

“The giant comet Roku showed me!!” Aang exploded. “He said it comes once every hundred years or so and that it’ll decide the fate of the world!”

Sokka’s eyes widened. Was this what the moon spirit meant when she talked about things being set in motion now that Aang had woken up? He didn’t see how a comet was beyond his comprehension, but spirits were strange. “Okay…calm down,” Sokka said. “It’s going to be okay. Just sit down Aang.” The airbender sat down next to Touya and absentmindedly stroked a sleeping Momo. 

“We’re still a little ways away from the North Pole, but we have a waterbending expert with us already,” Sokka said brightly. 

“Who?” Aang asked. 

“Touya!” Sokka revealed with a little flourish. 

Touya blinked and looked at Sokka owlishly. “I’m a waterbending expert?” he asked. “Me?”

“Yes,” Sokka smiled. “I’ve seen you practicing when we’ve camped out. Maybe you can impart some of that knowledge on Aa—the rest of us.”

Touya’s face brightened like the sun beaming through a cloudy sky. “Really?” He looked at Sokka and then turned to Aang with a big smile on his face. “Um, well first we’re gonna need some water. Like a lot of water.”

“We are over the ocean,” Sokka teased.

“Not that much water,” Touya retorted. “I _am_ the waterbending expert here.” 

* * *

* * *

* * *

“So I concentrate really hard so I can move the water like this,” Touya said. He furrowed his brow and stuck out his tongue as he waved his hand over the pond. The water moved jerkily in the direction of Touya’s hand. “But that’s kid stuff. Now I can do this.” Touya bent down with both hands in front of him. He lifted his hands and his body, with a stream of water following, and cupped the water to make a large bubble. “This is really hard to do,” Touya said proudly. “I’ve been practicing ever since we left the air temple.”

“How did you do that?” Aang gasped.

“Water is really fluid like…water,” Touya finished lamely. “You can’t really force it to do anything. You have to go with the flow. Treat it like an extension of your body. Like what you say all the time with your sword, Sokka.”

“Machete,” Sokka corrected with a smile. “Your trick is pretty cool Touya. I’m impressed.”

Touya grinned and turned to Aang. “Did you hear that?” he asked the airbender. “It’s pretty cool.” Aang nodded with a smile.

Sokka turned to the water and tried to move it, like he had seen Touya do. The boiling rage and strange tranquility that he felt when he attacked Zhao were absent and now Sokka just felt silly. “It isn’t working,” Sokka said morosely.

“That’s cause you’re trying to force it,” Aang said. The airbender held a bubble of water in his hand and was throwing it up and down. “Go with the flow.”

Sokka sighed and tried to relax. He took a deep breath and moved his hand again. This time, the water followed his hand slightly. “You did it!!” Touya cried. “I knew you could Sokka! Next I want to show you—“ 

“Hey what’s that?” Aang asked. The water bubble shuddered and burst as Aang ran towards the wooded area. Touya and Sokka shared a look before they stepped away from the pond and followed Aang.

“What did you see?” Touya asked.

“It looks like a sword made from a whale’s tooth,” Aang replied. He yanked the sword out of the ground and showed it to Sokka. “What do you think Sokka?”

Sokka took the sword and peered at it intently. He looked at the blue cloth wrapped around the handle and the fur right at the base of the blade. A memory of watching the men pack up came unbidden to his mind. A deep-seated sadness blossomed out of his chest, but Sokka beat it back down. “This is a Water Tribe weapon,” Sokka told the others. 

“If we found one, there might be more!” Touya said excitedly. “Let’s look for the others!”

Sokka shrugged and peered into the closest bush. He looked around and saw Aang and Touya digging through some other bushes. Sokka felt bad, but he didn’t want to find any more signs of the Water Tribe soldiers. He hadn’t made much of a fuss when the men left, Touya did that, but the absence of the warriors took a toll. He tended to spend most of his time with Nulia, but Sokka was always comforted when he came home and saw his dad’s weary smile. When he left, it was like another hole was being torn in Sokka’s heart. He didn’t want to face that again.

“I found something else!” Touya called from a little ways away. Once his two companions were over his shoulder, Touya brandished a black arrow. “Look, it’s burnt.”

Aang peered closer at the arrow while Sokka looked around. A tree with slash marks caught his eye and on closer inspection, he saw scorch marks. “There was a battle here,” Sokka said. “Water Tribe soldiers engaged a group of firebenders.” He pointed to patches of scorched grass. “The firebenders fought back, but it looks like the warriors drove them down this hill.”

Sokka ran down the hill, past the various burned patches, and over several large rocks, only to end up at a sandy beach. “What happened then?” Touya asked. 

“I don’t know,” Sokka said, looking at the ocean. “I don’t see anything else that could—“ Sokka turned and saw the hull of a very familiar ship. “It’s one of our boats!” Sokka ran to take a closer look at the boat.

“Is it Dad’s?” Touya asked softly.

“No,” Sokka said as he rubbed the whale-bone hull. “But it’s from his fleet. Dad was here.” 

Touya brightened and turned to Aang. “Dad was here! Dad was here! We’re close to Dad!” 

Sokka gave a wry smile before he noticed something very important. “Where’s Appa and Momo?”

* * *

* * *

* * *

They waited and searched the whole day, but they hadn’t seen anybody familiar. The moon was already high in the sky while Touya, Aang and Appa were fast asleep. Sokka poked the fire with a long stick and sighed. He remembered the day the men left like it was yesterday. Touya had gone missing and he spent that entire morning looking for him. He was finally found hiding in a ship, with his face messily painted and a too big club in his hands. He begged their dad to let him go, that he was strong enough to be a warrior and that he could help in the fight. When he was shot down, all Touya did was cry and cry. He cried long after the men left and was depressed for a few days afterwards. Sokka tried to ease Touya’s pain, but there was so much a young teenager could do. 

A loud rustle snapped Sokka out of his thoughts and he grabbed his machete. He glanced at Aang and Touya, who were cuddled comfortably on Appa’s tail. Those two slept like rocks, so Sokka wouldn’t be getting any help from them. He heard the rustle again and Sokka tightened his grip on his weapon. “Show yourself now,” Sokka said, opting to face this enemy head on. “And I won’t have to hurt you.”

“Hurt me?” a voice asked. “Sokka, is that you?” A tall figure stepped out of the shadows and a heart-breakingly familiar face came into view. 

“Bato?” Sokka asked softly. The man in front of him certainly looked like Bato. He was tall and slender with shaggy hair pulled back in a warrior’s wolf tail. His thin face was thinner still, and lined with more wrinkles than Sokka remembered.

“Sokka!” Bato cried.

“Who the what now?” Aang groggily asked. He rubbed his eyes and peered blearily past the fire. Touya shot straight up and blinked sleepily.

“Sokka?” Touya mumbled.

“No I’m—” Bato started. 

“Bato!!” Touya cried. He tumbled off of Appa’s tail and ran towards Bato. Touya wrapped his arms around the older man and squeezed tightly. Sokka came up shortly after and gave a small smile. Not having any of that, Bato grabbed Sokka and squeezed both siblings. 

“Sokka, Touya! It’s so good to see you two,” Bato smiled. “You’ve grown so much. Especially you Sokka.” Sokka blinked and noticed that he could look Bato right in the eye, without tilting his head at all.

“Hi, I’m Aang,” Aang said from behind the siblings.

“Where’s Dad?” Touya asked. “Is he here?”

“No,” Bato said sadly. “He and the other warriors should be in the east by now.”

Touya deflated and his eyes glittered in the firelight. Bato tried to give Touya a reassuring smile, but a strong gust stole the heat from their bodies. “This is no place for a reunion,” Bato said. “Follow me.” He put his hands on the siblings’ waists and led them off the beach. He turned back and gave Aang a small smile and tilted his head. Aang waved towards Appa and the airbenders followed the small trio of Water Tribesmen. 

“What happened Bato?” Sokka asked. “We saw the battle site, but didn’t see anyone.”

“After I was wounded, your father carried me to an abbey close by,” Bato explained. Sokka took a cursory glance at Bato and noticed that the older man was covered in bandages. His wounds didn’t seem to be too serious, since he seemed to be walking without any difficulty. “The sisters have cared for me ever since.”

“That’s nice of them,” Touya remarked. “We’ve gotten some help too, but mostly from villagers.”

“Really?” Bato said. “I’m surprised to see you two so far from home. What happened?”

“Aang’s the Avatar and we’re going to make sure he learns waterbending,” Touya explained brightly. Sokka slapped his forehead. What part of being inconspicuous didn’t Touya understand? Sokka looked back and saw Aang in his bright yellow and orange clothes and the extremely noticeable blue arrows on his bald head. Between him and Appa, there was no point in even trying to keep any secrets.

“The Avatar?” Bato asked, also glancing back to look at Aang. “You’re young for an Avatar.”

“Uh, thanks?” Aang mumbled confusedly. “You’re young for… being you?”

Bato raised an eyebrow and turned back to his surrogate nephews. “The Fire Nation has been searching for a hundred years and the Avatar was found by the children of my best friend. How amazing is that?”

Touya glowed. “We’ve been protecting him too,” the young waterbender added. “From that evil lady with the weird hair and the guy with the sideburns!”

Bato blinked in shock. “Um,” he turned to Sokka for an explanation.

“It’s a long story,” Sokka shrugged. He didn’t feel like talking about it. “Besides, isn’t that the abbey right there?”

“So it is,” Bato said as they approached the stone abbey. “Superior!” He called out to a woman with an elaborate head scarf that covered every inch of her hair and neck. “These are Hakoda’s children. They’ve been travelling with the Avatar,” he said proudly. “I found them by my boat.”

The superior smiled at the boys and then looked past them to smile at Aang. “Young Avatar,” the older woman said. “It gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey.”

“Thank you,” Aang responded brightly. “It’s an honor to—”

“I’m hungry,” Touya interrupted. “What smells so good Bato?”

Sokka tried to give Touya a look, but his younger brother was too busy gazing at Bato. 

“Those are the ointments and perfumes the sisters craft,” Bato chuckled. “Or you could be smelling my dinner.”

“Perfumes?” Sokka asked, a bright idea forming in his mind. “Maybe we could put some on Appa because… he…stinks so much…”

Someone coughed. Touya looked unimpressed and Bato even less so. Aang gave a reassuring smile while Appa looked very unamused.

“You have your father’s wit,” Bato said dryly. 

“I remember Dad being a lot funnier,” Touya said. Sokka scowled.

* * *

* * *

* * *

“Alright,” Ty Lee muttered. “Now if I were a crazy old man, where would I be?” She looked around and saw excited villagers milling about. “Getting ready for the Fire Days Festival huh?” she said to herself as she saw the villagers erecting a large red pole. 

“Excuse me!” she called to the nearest Fire Nation soldier. The young man turned around and saluted.

“Yes miss?” he asked.

“When is the festival starting?”

“Two days,” the man responded with a squeak in his voice. “We started preparing early yesterday morning.”

“Wow!” she gushed. Inwardly, she rolled her eyes. She didn’t care when the preparations started or ended. “That’s amazing! The village already looks like its festival-time ready!”

“Thank you,” the soldier blushed. “We’ve been working really hard.”

“It really shows,” Ty Lee smiled. “Hey, I have a question.”

“Yes?” The man asked. 

“Have you seen anybody weird lately?” Ty Lee asked as she twirled a piece of hair. “You’re really big and strong so I know you can keep this place safe.”

“Um, well,” the man stammered with a florescent blush. “I’ve seen a strange old man sniffing around here recently.” He looked around and leaned in closer to Ty Lee. “He looks homeless you know? Like his skin is leathery looking and he looks like he hasn’t been washed in months. He must be some escaped Earth Kingdom convict.”

Ty Lee nodded solemnly. “I see,” she murmured seriously. “Is it him, I wonder…”

The man took a step closer to Ty Lee and tried to look discreet. “Um, you’re really beautiful—“

“Thanks!”

The man blushed a deep red. “I was just wondering...um,” he stammered. “I have the day off on the day of the festival so I was wondering…would you like to go with me?” 

Ty Lee tried not to groan and roll her eyes. She didn’t do the whole commitment thing with guys, that was Fu Lee’s thing. They tripped over their feet to cater to her whims, she got tired of them and left them sobbing on the ground. She really didn’t want to lie to this guy any more than she had to, but she had a job to do. She took a deep breath, made sure the soldier didn’t see the exasperation on her face and grinned widely. 

“I’d love to go to the festival with you!” she beamed. “I’m traveling right now, so I might not be here tomorrow, but I’ll definitely meet you on festival night. I’m Ty….Lum. Nice to meet you…?”

“Sanan!” the soldier squeaked. He cleared his throat. “I’m Sanan. It’s really nice to meet you Ty Lum.” Sanan smiled widely and Ty Lee returned it with a grin of her own.

“I have to get going now, but we’ll meet by the red pole, okay?”

Sanan nodded, goofy smile still on his face. Ty Lee waved goodbye and turned on her heel towards the village’s entrance. She felt Sanan’s eyes on her back until she made her way deeper into the woods that surrounded the village and shuddered. “Ugh!” she cried out. “This is what happens when you leave me alone! I end up with dates!” 

“Scream any louder why don’t you? My great aunt Ai didn’t hear you, Agni rest her soul,” Wei teased as he emerged from the bushes.

“Don’t be a flame tosser,” she grumbled. “Have you found anything yet?”

Wei shook his head and shrugged. “We might as well be looking for a ghost.”

“We are looking for a ghost,” Ty Lee said. She sighed deeply and rubbed her temples. “Remember who we’re doing this for Wei.”

Wei snorted and ran his hand through his impressive mane of hair. “Is it too much to ask for a relaxing vacation? Or maybe an extravagant retirement? I’m too old for this,” he said. 

“Aren’t you only thirty?”

“I’m twenty-nine!” Wei huffed indignantly. “There’s a difference!”

“Okay sure,” Ty Lee said flippantly. There was a year difference between she and Yu Lee and that didn’t mean much. Yu Lee still bossed her around and made decisions for the both of them. And An Lee was even worse.

Wei scowled for a moment before sighing and shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know how I got stuck with this job,” he mumbled. 

“I know!” Ty Lee offered cheerfully. “Yu Lee batted her eyelashes and you fell for it.”

Wei flushed and scratched the back of his neck. “Didn’t I tell you guys it was a favor for the Fire Lord?”

“That excuse might work on Azula but you’ll have to try a little harder to fool me,” Ty Lee said as she rolled her eyes. “And I’ve lived with Yu Lee my whole life. I know how persuasive she is.”

“Persuasive is one way of putting it,” Wei chuckled. “I’m starting to think ‘horribly manipulative’ is more accurate.”

“Hey!” Ty Lee laughed. “That’s my sister you’re talking about!” 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Bato’s small room in the abbey looked just like the inside of his hut. Sokka could almost believe that he was back in the Southern Water Tribe and that any moment, his dad would walk in and offer up a bright smile. There were furs lining the walls and a small array of weapons lined the far wall. Momo poked cautiously at a pelt of a snow bear and screeched as its jaws shut. The smell of stewed sea prunes filled the air as Bato poured a bowl for the three companions. 

“Hey Bato, is it true that you and Dad lassoed an artic hippo?” Touya asked in between sips of his soup.

“It was your father’s idea, he just dragged me along,” Bato said before he paused shortly. “Well, the hippo did most of the dragging.”

“I ride animals too!” Aang chirped. “One time, there was this giant eel and—“

“That’s nice Aang,” Touya said flippantly. “So who was it behind the Great Blubber Fiasco?”

Bato blinked and laughed robustly. “You know about that?”

“Everyone knows,” Sokka said. “It’s one of Gran-Gran’s favorite stories to tell. That and the thing with the octopus.”

Bato laughed again, louder. “Kanna would tell that story!”

“I haven’t heard that story…” Aang muttered. 

Sokka turned around and gave Aang an apologetic smile. “It’s a pretty long story Aang, are you sure you want to—“

“Shush!!” Touya hushed. “I want to hear about Dad’s and Bato’s hilarious adventures!”

“They weren’t all hilarious at the time,” Bato said. “But everything’s funny in hindsight.” 

“Hey hey! Was it you or Dad that put the octopus on your head?” Touya asked.

“Your dad wore the octopus, but I did the spooooky voice,” Bato said in a soft voice. “Aang! Please put that down.” Everyone turned around and looked to see Aang wearing a fur pelt on his head. “It’s ceremonial and very fragile. I don’t want anything to happen to it before we go back home.”

Aang grumbled and put the pelt back on the wall. Bato offered a smile in thanks. “There is something I should tell you two,” he said to Sokka and Touya. “I’m expecting a message from your father.”

“Really!?” Touya asked excitedly. 

“When?” Sokka asked.

“Any day now,” Bato said with a big smile. “Your father said he’d send a message when they found the rendezvous point. I know you’re on a big adventure, but… I know your father would appreciate seeing you two.”

Touya gasped and looked at Sokka with a bright look on his face. “We haven’t seen Dad in three years! This is amazing!! Right Sokka?”

“It has been a really long time since we’ve seen Dad…” Sokka conceded.

“I have no way of telling when the letter will arrive, but it can’t be too much longer now.” At Bato’s words, Aang crossed his arms and stalked out of the small room. Sokka noticed and sighed. “We have to take Aang to the North Pole,” Sokka said, dashing Touya’s hopes and dreams. “We’ll have to see Dad some other time, Touya.”

Touya pouted and crossed his arms. “So _now_ going to the North Pole is important? We can take detours to ride hopping llamas and bear pigs and stay days at Kyoshi Island and go all the way to the Fire Nation to talk to some dead guy, but we can’t spare a couple days to see Dad!? That’s not fair Sokka!”

“You were just complaining about the North Pole yesterday Touya!” Sokka retorted. “We’re just doing what you wanted us to do.”

“No you aren’t!” Touya yelled.

“Hey, hey,” Bato said soothingly. “Don’t fight you two. I get it, your journey with the Avatar is important. Your father will understand. And Touya, your father would be very proud to know that you’re doing something so important.”

Touya frowned and crossed his arms. “But I want to see Dad…”

“Next time,” Bato said. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

“Um, hey guys!” Aang said loudly. “Sorry I was gone for so long!”

Everybody turned to watch Aang enter the small room. “I didn’t know you were gone,” Touya muttered. Aang smiled brightly and turned to a discarded bowl of soup. 

“Mmm, stewed sea prunes, my favorite!” Aang shoveled spoonful after spoonful into his mouth, pausing only to gag and shudder.

“You’ve never had sea prunes before Aang,” Sokka said dryly.

“Yes I have!” Aang insisted. “During my…earlier trips to the Southern Water Tribe! I used to go with Monk Gyasto!”

Sokka raised an eyebrow but he didn’t press any further. Aang never mentioned any prior trips to the Southern Water Tribe, but Aang wasn’t very talkative about his life before they found him in the iceberg. Now that he thought about it, Sokka wasn’t sure that Aang had ever mentioned how he ended up in the iceberg anyway. Though he was a little curious, Sokka wasn’t going to pry. If Aang didn’t want to say anything, Sokka wouldn’t ask. He couldn’t say the same for Touya though.

After dinner, Sokka and Touya huddled together underneath a real fur pelt for the first time since leaving home. “Touya…”

“Yeah, Sokka?”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Sokka whispered.

“It’s okay,” Touya whispered back. “I’m sorry I yelled at you too. I did make a big fuss over going to see Dad.” 

“Yeah you did,” Sokka pointed out. “Once you and Aang learn waterbending, we’ll be heading back into the Earth Kingdom anyway, so we can find Dad then.”

Touya furrowed his brow and frowned. “What about you Sokka? Aren’t you gonna learn waterbending with the rest of us?”

Sokka shrugged as much as he could under the thick fur. “I’m not very good at it,” Sokka muttered.

“That’s cause you only waterbended once—“

“Keep your voice down!” Sokka hissed. “We already have that princess and Zhao on our trail, we can’t have the whole Fire Nation on us!”

“But Bato wouldn’t say anything to the Fire Nation,” Touya said.

Sokka clenched his jaw for a moment before letting out a breath. “We can’t be too careful,” Sokka said curtly. “I’m sure Zhao would love to send the last two Southern waterbenders to the Fire Lord.”

“What are you two whispering about over there? Your girlfriends?” Bato chuckled from his own pallet a few feet away. Touya blushed and pulled the fur over his head while Sokka rolled his eyes.

“We’re going to bed Bato,” Sokka called back. 

“Good night boys,” Bato chuckled loudly. Touya mumbled something incoherent and shut his eyes tightly as his cheeks burned. Sokka closed his own eyes and felt the fuzzy hands of sleep pull him under.

The next morning, Bato took the three back to the beach. “This ship is sentimental to me,” Bato said as they approached his boat. With a soft look on his face, Bato rubbed the hull reverently and smiled. “It was built by my father. I was so proud, you would have thought I built it myself,” Bato chuckled. “But I only helped with the sanding and tying some of the parts together.”

“Is this the boat he took you ice dodging in?” Touya asked. 

“Yep and it’s got the scars to prove it,” Bato said proudly. “Your ship must be just as beat up from your first ice dodging right Sokka? I bet you have some fabulous stories.”

“I never got to go,” Sokka said. “Dad left before I was old enough.”

The bright smile slid off Bato’s face. “Oh…I forgot,” Bato said sadly. “You _were_ too young.”

“What’s ice dodging?” Aang asked. 

“It’s a rite of passage for young Water Tribe boys,” Bato explained. “When you turn fourteen your dad takes you. It signifies the transition from child to man.”

“Oh,” Aang said, but Sokka could tell Aang was a little puzzled. 

“You know what Aang? You’re going to find out,” Bato said. “You’re what, seventeen now? It’s time for you to become a man, Sokka.”

“I thought Dad had to take me,” Sokka said.

“Well, that’s how it’s traditionally done,” Bato agreed. “But these are times of war and we need every man we can get. Besides,” Bato offered a cheeky smile. “I’ve known you since before you were born Sokka. I’m the next best qualified to oversee your ice dodging. “

“Yay, let’s go ice dodging!!” Touya exclaimed as he tried to climb into Bato’s ship. “Psssst, Appa!” The giant bison, who had been loafing about in the afternoon sun groaned loudly and plodded over to the side of the ship. With practiced ease, Touya hefted himself onto Appa’s back and tumbled into the ship.

“I could have lowered the gangway,” Bato offered. “You didn’t have to use the…” Bato looked around for help.

“Ten-ton flying bison,” Aang offered bitterly. “You could have said no, Appa.” 

Appa looked at Aang, yawned and then plodded back to his spot in the sun. “Tell me how you really feel, Appa,” Aang muttered with crossed arms. Sokka chuckled and followed Bato onto the boat as soon as the elder lowered the gangway. 

“Ice dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery and trust,” Bato said as he started to untie the ship and set the sails. “In the tribe, it was done by weaving a boat through fields of iceberg. Seeing as there’s no ice here, these deadly rocks will have to do.” Bato pointed north at a sharp bluff overlooking dozens of sharp rocks.

“Seems easy enough,” Sokka said sarcastically.

“Great!” Bato beamed. “Sokka, you steer and call the shots. Touya, you secure the main sail. The winds can be brutal, but I have faith in your bravery.” Touya grinned and grabbed the rope controlling the sail. He turned to Sokka with a big grin on his face and Sokka felt his stomach drop into the pit of his belly.

“Aang, you control the jig. Without your steady hand, we’ll all die,” Bato said. “This position is about trust.”

Aang stood ramrod straight for a few seconds before deflating. “I know that!” he said with a twitter in his voice. “Why wouldn’t I know that!? I’m the Avatar! I know about trust!!” Aang crossed his arms and scowled, but his expression wavered slightly.

Bato blinked but then shrugged. “Alright then,” he said, then he turned to the Water Tribe siblings. “For this to be done correctly, I cannot help. You’re on your own.” With that said, Bato sat down with a serene look on his face. “Good luck.”

Sokka looked at Touya and Aang in turn and groaned. “We’re all going to die.”

* * *

* * *

* * *

“You have to be kidding me,” Azula muttered. “You have to be _kidding_ me!” Azula angrily punched out a stream of bright orange flames and ground her teeth. “This is some elaborate joke Commander Wei’s put you up to, isn’t it?”

Soldier Rong gulped and shook his head rapidly. “N-no sir, I mean ma’am, I mean—“

“Shut up!” Azula yelled. “I can’t believe this at all!” Azula clenched her fist and resisted the urge to punch some more fire. She couldn’t believe things had gotten so bad so quickly. She rubbed her temples and exhaled sharply through her nose. Her anger dissipated and she turned back to Rong. “Do we know if his request got confirmed or not?”

Rong shook his head. “We were just able to intercept Commander Zhao’s request. Considering the date when the request was made, I’m guessing the compound didn’t get it yet or they just received it.”

Azula plopped into the closest chair and put her face into her hands. “And you’re sure that it says Zhao has requested the Yu Yan Archers?” Azula asked, even though she had read the missive herself and knew that her fate was sealed. 

“Yes Princess,” Rong said. He saluted for good measure, but Azula didn’t notice. 

“You’re dismissed,” Azula muttered. Rong saluted again and left the conference room. Once she was alone, Azula slammed her fist into the table. It just wasn’t fair! Zhao was an upstart from a common born family, he had risen to Commander in barely any time at all and now he’d requested to use the Yu-Yan Archers. They were the best of the best the Fire Nation had to offer. And Zhao got to use them? It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. Regardless of her relationship with the Fire Lord, Azula was a princess, the royal princess of the Fire Nation. If anybody should have use of the Yu-Yan Archers, it had to be her.

Azula sighed. Wei and Ty Lee had gone off to search for news of the Avatar, but they hadn’t come back yet. In that moment, Azula had never felt more alone and she felt heat prickle behind her eyes. Yu Lee could fix this. Yu Lee could fix anything with a bat of her eyelashes and a few words out of her mouth. But she wasn’t here.

And Azula didn’t know what to do.

* * *

* * *

* * *

“I mark Sokka with the mark of the wise,” Bato said as he painted the symbol on Sokka’s forehead. “The same mark your father has.” His face and voice were so full of pride that Sokka couldn’t help but smile back at the older man. Bato turned to Touya. “For Touya, the mark of the brave.” He marked Touya with a crescent moon and smiled at the beaming boy.

“Did you all see how I went left?” Touya gushed. Sokka rolled his eyes and elbowed Touya. 

“Hush Touya,” Sokka said, but Touya wouldn’t let himself be deflated.

“And for Aang,” Bato continued with a chuckle. “The mark of the trusted. You are now an honorary member of the Southern Water Tribe.”

Aang offered a wan smile before scratching the back of his neck. “Actually—“ Aang started.

“Hey, what’s that?” Touya asked. Sokka looked and saw a crumpled ball of paper near Aang’s foot. Touya bent down and grabbed it before anyone could stop him. 

“Hey, Touya, wait!” Aang cried. He lunged at Touya, but the young waterbender deftly dodged as he unfurled the paper. “Don’t read it!” Aang pleaded, but it was too late. Touya’s eyes danced over the paper and his eyes widened with shock.

“This is the map to Dad!” Touya cried. “Why do you have it?”

Aang open and shut his mouth like a gasping fish, with wide eyes full of hurt and shame. 

“This is why you left last night, isn’t it?” Sokka said calmly. “And why you’ve been acting strange…well stranger than usual.”

Aang looked at his feet and nodded sadly. “A messenger gave it to me and I was supposed to give it to Bato,” he explained. “But, you have to understand! I was afraid you’d—“

“He’s our dad, Aang!” Touya cried. “How could you do this to me? You _know_ I wanted to see him! …Really really badly…” Touya sniffed and wiped at his teary eyes.

“But I was afraid you’d leave,” Aang said pitifully. 

Touya glared at Aang and crumpled the map in his fist. “You can go to the North Pole all by yourself!” Touya yelled. “I’m going to go find Dad!” Without another glance towards Aang, Touya whipped around and started stomping towards the abbey. 

“Now Touya,” Bato said calmly. “I think you should stop and reconsider.”

Touya kept walking until he got to the edge of the woods. He turned around, but angrily passed over Aang. “Let’s go Sokka.”

Sokka looked at the dejected look on Aang’s face and opened his mouth to protest. But…. “I’m sorry Aang,” Sokka said. “But Touya’s my baby brother. I can’t leave him.”

“But we were supposed to go to the Northern Water Tribe together,” Aang said feebly.

“I’m sorry,” Sokka repeated and he turned to follow Touya back to the abbey. Sokka saw Bato offer Aang a sad look. Sokka felt so bad for leaving Aang all alone on the beach, but he shouldn’t have lied. Maybe if Aang had been up front, maybe Sokka could have convinced Touya to stick to the original plan. Sokka couldn’t help but feel that Aang had done this to himself. 

“Could I see that map Touya?” Bato asked once he, Sokka and Touya got back to the abbey. Touya nodded and gave the map to Bato. He studied it for a moment before heading towards his room. “The good news, we should be able to make it to them in a day or two,” Bato said.

Touya’s face brightened but Sokka stayed grounded. “What’s the bad news?” he asked.

“We’ll have to cut right through Fire Nation territory.”

“Is that all?” Sokka muttered. 

“It’s a good thing we have two men now,” Bato said proudly. “Your father will be so proud.”

Sokka gave a wan smile, but he didn’t feel like he was doing anything worthy of pride. He was leaving Aang to fend for himself—but Sokka stopped that thought in his tracks. Aang was a capable bender, he was the one who usually stopped that princess from hurting anyone. Plus Aang was the Avatar. If anything bad happened, he could just go all glowy and things would be alright. With that firmly in his mind, Sokka set about helping Bato pack up the belongings in his room. They were halfway done when Touya stopped abruptly and scowled.

“Aang has all of our stuff,” he said curtly. 

Sokka put down the large bowls he was packing and started searching his tunic. “I have the money here, along with the map, Dad’s boomerang… and that’s it,” Sokka said. “Everything else is on Appa. But don’t worry, I’ll get it.” 

Touya was still scowling, but he just nodded and picked up the discarded bowls. Sokka glanced at Touya one more time before walking out of the room. Luckily for him, Aang and Appa were in the large courtyard, airbender and bison looking morose and dejected. Aang turned to see Sokka approaching him and the boy brightened immediately. “Hey Aang,” Sokka said. “We just came to get our stuff.”

Aang immediately deflated and a pang shot through Sokka’s heart. He looked at the small airbender for a moment, before rifling through his tunic. “Here Aang,” Sokka said, holding out the map. “This map has the quickest route to the Northern Water Tribe I could find. If you take it and keep a low profile, you should be able to get there in a couple weeks.” 

Aang looked at the map petulantly. “We were supposed to go together,” Aang said. “Who’s going to teach you and Touya how to waterbend?”

Sokka shrugged. “We’ve been getting by just fine.”

“Benders need to know how to bend their elements Sokka! You can’t just pretend you’re normal!” Aang cried. “You’re gonna mess up your spirit energy!”

“We’ll be fine Aang,” Sokka repeated. “Focus on your journey. You have a world to save and a Fire Lord to beat. Maybe if we’re lucky, we can keep that girl off your path.”

Aang nodded, but his face was still drawn with sadness. Sokka didn’t know what to say to cheer him up. Sokka could always lie and say they were going to meet up again soon, but Sokka didn’t know if they were ever going to see each other again. They were on the same side, but…Sokka was quickly realizing that the world was a large place and there was no guarantee he’d ever see the little airbender again. Sokka tried to smile at Aang, but his face wouldn’t move. Sokka sighed and gathered their stuff from Appa’s saddle. Sokka loosened the money pouch and left half of its contents near Aang’s glider. Once Sokka was done, Appa groaned mournfully and poked Sokka with his nose. “I’m sorry boy,” Sokka said. “I don’t think Touya’s coming out.” Appa groaned again, softer this time. 

Sokka attached his machete to his hip and grabbed the sleeping bags that contained everything Touya and Sokka brought from their village. He started walking back towards Bato’s room, but he turned to look at Aang one last time. “Promise me that you’ll be careful.”

“…I will Sokka,” Aang said after a short pause. “You too...”

Sokka nodded and started walking again before Aang’s voice stopped him. “I’m really sorry…”

“I know Aang.” 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Aang waited outside of Bato’s room expectantly, but Touya didn’t run out to apologize or even say goodbye. Aang didn’t get it; he had already apologized, twice! Wasn’t that enough? Aang guessed that their dad was important, but what was more important than learning how to waterbend and helping him save the world? Appa groaned loudly and stood up tall. “I think you’re right buddy,” Aang said sadly. “They’re not coming back.”

His limbs felt heavy as he climbed onto Appa’s head and gripped the reigns. “Yip yip,” he sighed and Appa rose into the air as gracefully as he always did, but the air was heavy and silent. Aang didn’t say a word as he grabbed Sokka’s map and looked over it. He squinted and turned the map over, trying to make sense of the swiggly lines, jagged points and random circles dotting the map. Maybe Aang should have told Sokka that he didn’t know how to read a map accurately. He wasn’t sure which line was the path to the Northern Water Tribe, since they all looked the same to him. And Aang wasn’t sure which pole was which! 

“Ugh! I can’t read this!” Aang cried. “How are we going to get to the North Pole like this?” 

In response, Appa groaned and turned around in the middle of the air. “You know where the North Pole is buddy?” Aang asked excitedly. Appa yawned. “You could show a little more enthusiasm,” Aang muttered. “Like Momo does, right Momo?” 

When he didn’t get a response, he turned around and looked into the saddle. “Momo?” Aang climbed over Appa’s head and looked around. Without the Water Tribe siblings’ stuff, the saddle looked bare. He saw a small pile of money next to his glider and stuffed it into his shirt pocket. Aang furtively wiped his eyes and looked into his meager belongings for any sign of Momo. But there was no Momo to be found. Tears welled up into Aang’s eyes as he rubbed them again. 

“It’s not fair,” he murmured. “Momo and Touya and Sokka are gone and it’s just us Appa…” Aang closed his eyes and hugged his legs. “I miss everyone,” Aang said softly. Appa grunted sadly before the two fell silent. They flew under a thick cloud of sorrow for hours and hours, until Appa let out a soft moan and started losing altitude. 

“You’re getting tired, huh Appa?” Aang asked, voice hoarse from being unused. “Let’s stop there.” He pointed to a heavily wooded area some ways off from the shore they were flying over. Appa groaned affirmatively and landed in a small clearing between a thicket of trees. Appa plopped onto the ground and huffed tiredly. “You just rest here for now,” Aang said. “I’ll see if there’s anything around here.” 

Aang walked around for a few moments before he stumbled upon a large sign with flyers glued on. “Look what I found Appa!” Aang said. “This should tell us what’s around.” Appa groaned from a short distance away, but the giant bison made no motion to move any closer. 

“Fire Days Festival…” Aang muttered. That sounded like it would be fun and exactly what he needed to get his mind of things related to Touya, Momo and their awful betrayals. “It says here that it has Fire Nation cultural exhibits, jugglers, benders, magicians... This could be a great place for me to safely study some firebending!”

Appa mumbled skeptically as he plodded towards Aang. The giant bison poked Aang with his nose warningly. Aang patted Appa’s nose dismissively. “Don’t worry Appa, I’ll be fine,” Aang smiled. “Nobody knows it’s me besides all the people we’ve helped, the princess and that weird sideburn guy.”

Appa groaned again, this time more urgently. “I know we’re in Fire Nation territory, but we’ll be okay! Maybe they’ll think I’m dressed up or something.” Aang turned around with a big smile and patted Appa’s snout. Appa exhaled sharply through his nose and gave Aang a disbelieving look. “Okay, okay, I’ll wear a disguise if it makes you feel better,” Aang grumbled. Appa bared his teeth and gave Aang a wet lick.

“Thanks buddy,” Aang smiled. “But you stay here while I go and observe the firebenders, okay?” Aang used his airbending to jump on top of Appa’s head and scratched his friend’s head. Gliding effortlessly, Aang touched on the ground and started walking towards the village. He looked around as the trees around him thinned and the peaks of tall buildings came into view. Soon enough, Aang passed through the village’s gates and saw large red poles with lights hanging from them. Various people milled about, all wearing different shades of red. Aang looked down at his bright yellow and orange robes and felt out of place. He looked to the dozens of merchant stands and approached one that had masks on display. 

“Um, hi,” Aang said to the merchant hesitantly. “I would like a mask please.”

The merchant raised an eyebrow while looking Aang up and down. “You need one,” the man muttered. “Who told you that airbender costume looked good? You should have dressed up as the Fire Lord!”

Aang paled and his mouth flopped open and closed like a giant koi fish. The merchant tutted and grabbed a mask of an ornately decorated bird. “This is the sun god Agni,” the merchant said. “I’ll give it to you for free because I like you…even if your costume is atrocious.”

“Um…thanks?” Aang said as the mask was shoved into his arms. The man raised an eyebrow expectantly. Aang blinked and out the mask on, to the approval of the merchant. 

“Go out and have fun!” the merchant exclaimed. Aang nodded and meandered his way towards past the many merchant stands. He saw a few children running towards a small stage, where a puppet was breathing fire. Grimacing beneath his mask, Aang watched the puppet melt an earthbender puppet when he bumped into something hard. Whipping around, Aang’s foot caught on something slick and he tumbled to the ground, but not before reaching out and taking something down with him.

“What’s your deal!?” a man covered in ice cream yelled. 

Aang’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped. “U-Um, I’m s—“

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it!” The man yelled as he got up. “I’m covered in this stuff! I should—“

“Sanan, what are you doing!?” a high pitched voice yelled. Aang looked up to see a girl in pink holding an ice cream cone glaring at the man. He turned to give a retort but looked sheepish when he realized who spoke.

“He’s just a kid! It was an accident,” she said as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah,” Aang agreed feebly.

“You shut up!” Sanan snarled.

“Wow, Sanan,” the girl said. “If I had known you were a jerk, I wouldn’t have agreed to go out with you anyway!”

“Children should know their place Ty Lum,” Sanan said as he hefted himself off the ground. “And be taught to not bother adults. I’m teaching this child, his place.”

The girl in pink glared at Sanan a bit longer and then looked at Aang. “Oh yeah, you really told him didn’t you?” she said with a dryness matching that of Sokka’s. Before Sanan could say anything else, she smashed her ice cream against his face and pulled Aang off the ground. “You weren’t getting a kiss anyway,” she said before she dragged Aang off.

Aang blinked and looked at the girl who had defended him so zealously. Her hair was tied up into a large braid that was the color of fertile soil and it tumbled down her back in abstract elegance. And her eyes were clear and grey, like a blanket of clouds underneath an air temple. Her skin shone gold under the flickering light of the flames and her hands were as soft and delicate as any noble artisan. She was the most beautiful person Aang had ever seen. 

The girl dragged Aang into a secluded area with only a few people milling about. “Sorry about that,” the girl said as she faced the young airbender. “I didn’t think he was such a huge jerk when I agreed to go out with him.”

Aang gazed into the beautiful girl’s face, dazzled by her luminescent eyes.

“Are you okay?” She asked, waving her hand in front of his mask.

“Yes!!!” Aang yelped. Nervously, he took his mask off and offered the girl a wide smile. “Thank you for saving me.” He bowed deeply. The girl stared at him with wide eyes that kept roaming his body. “Oh w-wow. Um, you’re very welcome,” the girl stammered.

“My name is Aang,” he said brightly. “And you’re Ty Lum right? That’s a beautiful name.” “That’s not my name,” she said sheepishly. “I just told Sanan that. I’m Ty Lee, nice to meet you Aang.” She bowed shallowly and returned his bright smile. Now that she didn’t look so surprised, Aang noticed that she looked as excited as he did.

“Since you spilled ice cream all over my date,” Ty Lee said slyly. “Would you accompany me for the rest of the festival?”

Aang felt his face heat up and his grin became wider. “Of course!” he cried. “My lady.” He offered his arm and Ty Lee giggled as she linked her own. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Touya hadn’t been hugged in a long time, not since they left home. He’d given plenty of hugs, but that was always different than being hugged. Being hugged was like being enveloped in a soft warm parka after a day playing in the cold slush. At least, that’s what Touya felt when his father’s big arms wrapped around him. It had been a long three years.

“It’s so good to see you Touya,” his father rumbled in a deep voice. His arms squeezed Touya even tighter and he ran his hand through Touya’s hair. “I was so afraid that I would…”

His father stepped back slightly, breaking the hug, but keeping his hands on his son’s shoulders. “You’ve gotten so big…” his father said with a wistful smile. “And look at you Sokka! The last time I saw you, you were this big.”

Touya turned to gaze up at Sokka, who was awkwardly towering over a good chunk of the other men. “He doesn’t seem that tall to me,” Touya offered, much to the amusement of the men.

“Doesn’t seem that tall?” Masato guffawed. “He’s huge!!” He heartily patted Sokka’s back. Sokka flushed and crossed his arms. 

“I’m not that tall,” he muttered with embarrassment. He had never noticed his height before. He didn’t get a growth spurt until he was sixteen and by then, he had already towered Gran-Gran and his mother. He didn’t think he would be taller than the other men too. 

Hakoda laughed and gave his older son a crushing hug. “My grandfather was a tall and wise man,” Hakoda said. “You take after him immensely.”

Sokka flushed even more as Hakoda laughed. “Bato told me about your ice dodging! I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.”

“It’s okay Dad,” Sokka murmured. "It wasn't too exciting." 

"Nonsense!" Masato said. "Bato told us that without your quick thinking, you all would have been dead!" 

"Yeah!" Touya chimed. "We almost smashed into a whole bunch of rocks and then Sokka steered us left and we made it! Aang almost fell off the boat though." 

The men all laughed uproariously at Touya's story and he smiled brightly. It felt good to be surrounded by all his village men, but a weird pang settled in his stomach. "Who's Aang?" Hakoda asked. 

Touya clamped his mouth shut and crossed his arms. Hakoda raised an eyebrow and looked to Sokka for answers. 

"Sokka, who is Aang?" He repeated. 

"This kid in an iceberg Touya and I found," Sokka muttered. He met Hakoda's intense glare for a few seconds before his eyes shot to the ground. Touya didn't get it. He wondered why Sokka didn't seem too happy when they were back with their dad and everyone else. Touya was happy, he was more than happy, but that weird pang in his stomach wouldn't go away. 

"Would someone mind explaining _this_?" Bato asked in a weak voice. He had a small and energetic creature held up by the tail. It chattered angrily and flailed in his hand, before turning its large eyes toward Sokka. It screeched loudly before wringing itself out of Bato’s grip and into Sokka’s pants. It climbed up Sokka’s body, before popping it's head out of Sokka's tunic. 

"Hi Momo," Sokka said, nonchalantly ignoring the looks he was getting from his clansmen. "Did you sneak into our packs while we weren't looking?" Momo chattered back conversationally and shot Bato a dirty look. Sokka glanced at an incredulous Bato and looked back at Momo. "I know," Sokka said soothingly to the agitated lemur. "We'll find you some peaches, okay Momo?" Without another look at the other men, Sokka and Momo went off in search of peaches. 

"You know that thing?" Bato asked hoarsely. He clutched at his side and bent over. "It was eating all of my dried jerky and making a mess of things." 

"That's Momo," Touya said. “He's Aang’s lemur, but I think he likes Sokka better. We found him in the Southern Air Temple."

"You two have been just about everywhere, haven’t you?" Hakoda chuckled. Bato smiled tightly and sighed with a shudder. "Are you alright?" Hakoda asked his oldest friend. 

"I reopened a wound," Bato sighed. "It was kind of the sisters to let us use those ostrich horses, but the ride was too bumpy for me."

Touya looked at the splotch of red blossoming around Bato’s hand. He looked at Bato’s pale face and the worry etched in his dad's expression. Touya looked around to the other men and saw weariness and sadness clinging to their bodies. Touya thought that once he finally got to see his dad, then everything would go back to normal, but it didn't. Sokka didn't want to talk, Bato was hurt and Aang... and Touya missed Appa. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

"I had a lot of fun tonight Aang," Ty Lee said with a smile. 

Aang felt his ears heat up and a bashful smile burst from his lips. "T-thanks," Aang stammered. "I had a nice time too." 

Ty Lee smiled too and she slipped her hand into his. Aang felt his face heat up and he looked at Ty Lee with wide eyes. "I'm glad you saved me from my date," she said. "I would have died if I had to spend one more minute with him!" 

"You shouldn't joke about death young lady," a hoarse voice said. Ty Lee’s hand tightened around Aang's and he felt himself move backwards as Ty Lee pushed herself in front of him.

"I won't hurt you," the voice said and a ragged-looking man stepped out of the shadows. "My name is Chey and I'm here on behalf of Jeong Jeong." 

Even in the dark, Aang saw Ty Lee's face pale. "Wait," Aang asked. "Who's Jeong Jeong and how does he know me?" 

"I saw you fly in with your bison," Chey explained. "I followed you and wanted to approach you earlier but I lost you during the firebending show." 

Ty Lee's grip tightened a little more, but she let Aang approach the man unhindered. "Okay..." he muttered. "But who's Jeong Jeong?"

"He's a famous Fire Nation general," Ty Lee answered. "He was on par with the Dragon of the West, and then he disappeared."

Chey was taken aback, but he recovered quickly. "She's right," Chey said. "Master Jeong Jeong disagreed with the war and he became the first person to leave the army and live. I'm the second, but you don't get to be a legend for that."

"Are you gonna take us to Jeong Jeong?" Aang asked. 

Chey nodded in affirmative. "He wants to see you." 

"That doesn't make any sense," Ty Lee said. "What would the great Jeong Jeong, celebrated military general turned deserter, want with some random colonial kid?" 

Aang fidgeted and dropped her hand. "Um, Ty Lee?" Aang asked as he stood in front of her. "I'm the Avatar." He took off his cloak and showed her his bright yellow clothes, and the arrows hidden under his hood. "See my arrows?" Strangely, Ty Lee didn't gasp or take a step back or ball to her knees like everybody else did once they found out he was the Avatar. She just narrowed her eyes and seemed to be inspecting his arrow tattoos. Seemingly satisfied, she started to laugh. 

"I can't believe it! I went on a date with the Avatar!" She exclaimed. "Just wait til I tell my sisters!" 

"W-wait!" Aang cried. "I'm trying to keep it a secret. There's some dangerous people after me and I don't want them to hurt you." 

Ty Lee blinked and then giggled sweetly. "Aren't you cute?" She said and gave him a hug. "You're so sweet to worry about me, Aang." 

The young airbender blushed bright red and awkwardly turned to Chey. "Um, we shouldn't keep Jeong Jeong waiting, huh?" Aang asked as he scratched the back of his neck. 

"No," Chey agreed. "But it would be much faster if we took your bison." 

Aang nodded and led the two outside of the village. They walked and walked until they found the clearing where Appa had been relaxing all day. "Hey buddy!" Aang said loudly, waking up his dozing friend. "Guess what?" 

Appa groaned and opened a bleary eye. "No, that's not it," Aang said as Appa closed his eyes again. "I met new friends! Now we don't have to be sad over stupid Touya." 

Appa groaned sadly at the mention of Touya’s name, but he stood up and peered at the newcomers. "This is Chey," Aang introduced, pointing to the scraggly brown haired man. "And _this_ is Ty Lee." Appa looked at the girl in maroon and licked her. 

"Appa wait!" Aang cried. "Boundaries!!" 

Ty Lee yelped and stiffened as Appa greeted her. She shuddered and groaned. "It's okay Aang, I don't mind animal slobber. Especially when it’s all over my sister's clothes," she muttered. 

Satisfied and with and glimmer of amusement in his eyes, Appa bent down to give everyone access to his saddle. After giving Ty Lee his cloak to wipe off Appa's slobber, Aang jumped into the saddle, helping the others climb up. With Chey's help, Aang managed to steer everyone successfully to right outside where Jeong Jeong's camp would be. 

"We'll need to walk the rest of the way," Chey said. "The locals might be frightened if they saw your bison overhead." 

Ty Lee shot Aang a look, but he couldn't decipher it so he just shrugged in return. "I don't think this is a very good idea," she said with a hint of apprehension. "Do we really want to meet a crazy firebender in the middle of Earth Kingdom territory?" 

"Master Jeong Jeong is not crazy," Chey insisted. "And we'll be perfectly safe here." 

And then, as if summoned by Chey's words, a group of men dropped from the trees and shoved their spears into Aang’s and Ty Lee’s faces. "We'll be perfectly safe, huh?" Ty Lee parroted dryly. 

"Be quiet!" One of the men yelled. Aang and Ty Lee were rudely shoved onto a path and roughly poked with the tips of a spear. "Move," the same man growled. 

The two slowly walked in the direction the men wanted them too and Aang shot a glance to Chey, who had been unharmed and unthreatened. 

A man dressed slightly more elaborately than the others angrily stomped over to Chey. "Jeong Jeong told you not to look for Avatar!" The man hissed. 

"You know these guys?" Aang asked. 

"Yeah!" Chey chuckled awkwardly. "Lin Yee's an old friend, right Lin Yee?" 

"Yu Lee?" Aang heard Ty Lee whisper. 

Lin Yee did not look amused with Chey at all. "Shut up!" He said rudely and Chey promptly snapped his mouth shut. A tense silence fell over the group as they continued to walk. As they approached a small village built next to a river, the men sheathed their spears and pushed Aang and Ty Lee towards a small hut. 

"What about Chey?" Aang asked. 

"Jeong Jeong see him only," Lin Yee said gruffly, motioning to Chey. 

"But what about us?" Ty Lee asked. 

"Don't worry!" Chey said brightly. "Jeong Jeong is a great great man! Everything will be fine." With that, Lin Yee and Chey walked off towards a small hut near the border of the village. Aang and Ty Lee were roughly shoved into the small hut and promptly left there. A sullen silence blanketed the inside of the hut before Aang broke it.

"I'm sorry Ty Lee," he said sadly. "I didn't mean to get you captured by Earth Kingdom warriors." 

"What? No Aang, this is great!" She exclaimed.

Aang blinked in confusion. “It is?" 

"Of course it is!" She said with a bright smile. "I get to meet the great Jeong Jeong! He's second only to the Fire Lord! Did you know that they used to work together?" 

Aang shook his head "I've never heard of Jeong Jeong until today. Is he really that famous?" 

Ty Lee nodded. "In the Fire Nation he is. Everybody talked about him when I was younger. We learned about his military campaign against Ba Sing Se before we learned about Fire Lord Sozin's decimation of the Air Temp—." Ty Lee cut herself off and looked at Aang with owlish eyes.

Aang crossed his legs and looked at the ground sadly. "So it really did happen, huh?" Aang asked. "I really am the last airbender." 

Ty Lee frowned and rubbed Aang’s shoulders. "I'm sorry Aang," she said. "I'm so, so sorry." 

"It's not your fault," Aang muttered. "For someone from the Fire Nation, you're not as evil as Sokka says." 

"How so?" 

"You haven't tried to capture and torture me and you haven't attacked me," Aang listed. “And you're really nice." 

"Thank you Aang," Ty Lee said with a warm smile. "I haven't felt very nice lately..." 

"Why not?" 

"I have seven sisters, but I'm only close with two of them," Ty Lee started. "My sister Yu Lee asked me to help her and I agreed but...I'm not really helping her, I'm helping her stupid friend!" Ty Lee huffed and crossed her arms. "I haven't been home in three years. And it's all her fault!" 

Aang stayed silent as Ty Lee furiously wiped at tearing eyes. "And I've missed so much at home! Like Su Lee's birthday and Da Lee’s marriage and what if Granny Tai dies and I don't get to see her?" She cried. "And I can't just go home without Yu Lee ‘cause what if something happens and I'm not there? I'll never forgive myself." 

Aang wrapped his arms around Ty Lee and held on tightly. "I don't know much about having a family," he confessed. "The monks didn't teach that. We were all supposed to be together, but not like brothers or sisters or dads." 

"You don't know who your parents are?" Ty Lee asked with a watery sniff. 

Aang shook his head. "Monk Gyatso raised me, but I don't think he was my father. And my mother has to be someone from the Western Air Temple, but worldly matters only distract us from enlightenment," Aang recited. "Maybe that's why Touya was so mad at me. Sometimes I forget that they aren't Air Nomads."

"Yeah..." Ty Lee trailed off. "Maybe you should try to see things from his point of view. Talking about it always helps _me_ feel better." 

Aang took a deep breath. "Yeah...I took the letter that was gonna take them to their dad and then I thought they would forgive me immediately," Aang sighed heavily. "But he didn't even accept my apology."

“Well—”

A shuffle at the door cut Ty Lee off and she slightly shifted. The door opened and Chey walked through the threshold. “What happened?” Aang asked excitedly. “Can I see Jeong Jeong now?”

Chey fell to the dusty ground in a sad heap. “He won’t see you,” he murmured. “He’s very angry that I brought you here. He wants you to leave immediately.”

“But—” Aang started.

“You said that he wanted to see Aang,” Ty Lee said accusingly. “Why did he change his mind so quickly?”

Chey stayed quiet for a moment before sighing deeply. “I lied,” he confessed. “I brought you here without his permission or knowledge.”

“But why won’t he see me?” Aang asked. 

“You aren’t ready. He says that you haven’t mastered waterbending and earthbending yet.” Chey avoided the gazes before the two in front of him and kept his eyes on a spot of ground in front of him.

“How does he know that?” Aang muttered.

“He saw the way you walked into camp!” Chey said. “He can tell.”

Ty Lee rolled her eyes. “Why does that even matter?” she asked. “The Avatar needs to know all the elements anyway.”

“There’s a certain order to these things,” Aang said nonchalantly. “I’m going to go see Jeong Jeong.” He stood up suddenly and exited out the hut before anybody could say anything. After walking past several huts, Aang thought that maybe he should have asked Chey were Jeong Jeong was before storming out . He walked to an isolated hut near the riverbank, and guessing it looked important enough, poked his head in. 

“Get out,” a gravelly voice growled as soon as Aang’s head peeked through the threshold. Steeling his nerve, Aang fully entered the hut.

“Master, I—“

“Only a fool seeks his own destruction,” Jeong Jeong said gruffly. The old master was sitting with his back towards Aang, the only light being a plethora of lit candles. 

“I don’t seek my destruction,” Aang said. “I want to learn firebending. It’s my destiny—“

“Destiny?” Jeong Jeon spat. “What would a boy know of destiny? If a fish lives its whole life in a river, does it know of the river’s destiny?”

“I don’t see what that has to do with—“ Aang started. 

“NO!” Jeong Jeong roared and the flames on the candles flickered brightly. “He only knows that it runs on and on, out of his control! He can never see the end or imagine the ocean.”

In that moment, Aang felt the immense desire to say something sarcastic and blamed Sokka. “Right,” Aang conceded, utterly confused and lost. “But it’s the Avatar’s duty to learn all of the bending disciplines. I need—“

“To master the bending arts, you need discipline,” Jeong Jeong said. “But you have no interest in this, so I have no interest in you. Now, get out.”

“Please,” Aang pleaded. “I have to learn. This could be my only chan—“

“Are you deaf!?” Jeong Jeong exploded. “How can I teach you if you refuse to listen!?” Jeong Jeong turned around, revealing a scarred and wrinkled face. “Before you learn firebending, you must first learn water and earth. Water is cool and soothing. Earth is steady and stable, but fire… Fire is alive. It breathes, it grows. Without a bender, a rock will not throw itself! But fire will spread and destroy everything in its path, even its wielder! _That_ is its destiny. You are not ready!”

Aang shrunk back as the flames on the candles erupted. Fire and heat surrounded his whole being for what felt like an eternity. And then all at once, it flickered away. After a moment of warm emptiness, everything was back to normal and Jeong Jeong looked resigned. “I will teach you,” he sighed.

“Really?” Aang asked. “That’s great! When will we start?”

* * *

* * *

* * *

When Sokka opened his eyes, he saw the moon. It shined bright, and brighter and brighter, until all that was left of the sky was a black outline. He closed his eyes again and took in the ocean-heavy air. "You aren't very subtle," he said with a sigh. 

Harmonious laughter filled his ears and a soft touch grazed his cheek. "Perhaps you are just too clever, my son," the lady said lightly. The soft touch returned and caressed his cheek. "How are you liking my gift?"

"I don't know how to work it," Sokka said, feeling strangely floaty. He couldn't tell if he were standing or lying on the ground. "I can't waterbend." 

"You need a teacher," she said. 

"Can't you teach me?"

"I am not a teacher," the lady laughed. "I am not _your_ teacher. You must go north." 

Sokka sighed and opened his eyes. The lady's vivid blue eyes gazed into his own and her lips quirked into a sly smile. "Do you want to explain to me why you are not with the Avatar?" She asked with an amused tilt to her voice. 

"He upset Touya," Sokka said weakly.

"But you are the man now and Touya is but a child," she said. "You should exercise that authority. I told you to stay with the Avatar." 

"He's my brother," Sokka murmured. "I can't leave him." 

The amused look slid off the lady's face, only to be replaced with something thoughtful and maybe even a little melancholy. "This was not foreseen," she admitted. "This was not the order of things. We are trying our best but..."

Sokka tried to move closer to the lady, but she stayed the same distance away. "What?" He asked. "What's going on?" 

She shook her head and pushed a stray hair from his face. "I have already revealed too much," she said. "There are rules I must follow." 

"You always do this!" Sokka cried. "You bring me here, say something cryptic and then spout secretive whale dung whenever I ask you about it!" The lady looked taken aback at Sokka's outburst and her mouth dropped open slightly. He felt slightly ashamed, but he grabbed onto a dark pit of emotions that had been bubbling since he first saw Bato. "If you aren't going to tell me anything, then stop bringing me here!" 

The lady stayed quiet for a long time. She didn't look at him, just at the moon covering the entire sky. He expected her to disappear or something and leave him alone in the spirit world like when he had been taken by the panda spirit. "It is a long, long, _long_ story," she finally said. 

"We have time," Sokka said. "I'm sleeping aren't I?"

The lady laughed and it rumbled through the world and shook the sky. "I knew there was a reason that I chose you."

* * *

* * *

* * *

"I always knew he was a heavy sleeper, but this is just ridiculous," Masato said as he scratched his receding hairline. Hakoda frowned and worriedly looked at his oldest son. Masato shook Sokka again, but the boy was dead to the world. Normally it wouldn't have fazed anyone, but they had been trying to wake him up for over an hour. 

"Sokka, wake up!" Touya said loudly. "Please?" 

But Sokka didn't move. If it weren't for the gentle moving of his chest, Hakoda would think that his oldest had died. "Does he do this all the time Touya?" Hakoda asked. Maybe this was a recent thing that started in the last few years. When he was gone.

"Not really," Touya said simply. "This only happened once before. There was a time when we were flying to Omashu and he fell asleep on Appa. And then I wanted to talk to him but he wouldn't wake up." 

Hakoda nodded and looked at his oldest son. In three years, his son had grown up. He wasn't a little kid anymore. Sokka had always taken after Kya's side of the family. He was the spitting image of her grandfather, from what Hakoda could remember. The baby fat had melted off his son's face, leaving a thin and mature man that was full of wisdom. Perhaps too thin, in Hakoda's opinion, but years of hard living took their toll on everyone, except Touya. Touya was chubby still, with a face as round, bright and soft as the midnight sun. Whenever he looked at his youngest son’s face, thoughts of Katara came unbidden to his mind. Hakoda couldn’t help picking out her features from Touya’s face, they looked so alike. He had Kanna’s eyes and Sokka’s ears and Kya’s nose and—Katara’s smile. He would have forgotten it if it weren’t for Touya, he would have forgotten many things if—

“Hakoda,” Bato said as he softly put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “What are we going to do about Sokka? He still hasn’t woken up.”

Hakoda looked back and saw Touya slapping Sokka repeatedly. “I don't know what's wrong Bato. Yesterday he was fine and we've spent all morning trying to get him up. He doesn't sleep this hard does he?"

Bato shook his head. "When we were on the move, he woke up at every leaf rustle," Bato said. "Touya did mention something about a crazy lady but Sokka’s been very silent about their adventures."

"There must be a good reason," Hakoda said, not convinced by his own words. "He'll tell us when it's time—"

"SOKKA!!" Touya cried. The men quickly looked at the two brothers, one exuberant and one pale and harried.

"We need to go now," Sokka said in a shaky voice. “Touya, pack up your things. We leave now.”

“Wait,” Hakoda said helpless as Touya jumped to his feet and started grabbing his pack. “Touya, stop. You just got here Sokka, why do you need to leave so soon?”

“Touya, now,” Sokka said sternly, before he turned his eyes to his father. Hakoda bristled at the disobedience. 

“If you want to leave, fine,” Hakoda said harshly. “But you don’t need to take your brother away from his people.”

A flash of hurt crossed Sokka’s face but was quickly replaced with a scowl. “Aang is in trouble and needs our help.”

“What happened to Aang?” Touya asked softly.

“Nothing if we get there in time!” Sokka cried.

“How do you even know this?” Bato asked. “He hasn’t sent any word.”

“I…” Sokka trailed off. “I just know. I have a special Aang-sense.”

“That was weak, even for you,” Hakoda scoffed. He then sighed and crossed his arms. “If you didn’t want to see me, you could have just said so.”

“Even if I told you how I know, you wouldn’t believe me anyway,” Sokka huffed. “Now can we pack, _please_?”

Hakoda looked at Bato for any help, but the other man still looked pale and drawn from his wound. “Why,” Hakoda sighed. “Do you need to go? The Avatar can handle a few days without you.” 

Sokka, who had started to help Touya pack, huffed. “I had a dream that Aang was in trouble,” Sokka mumbled. 

“That’s it?” Touya asked shrilly. “I thought it was something import—“ 

“It’s from the lady,” Sokka said and Touya blanched. The young waterbender quickly continued to pack with a look of almost fear on his face. 

“The lady?” Hakoda repeated blankly. “Who—what?”

“The spirit that whisked you away?” Bato asked. Sokka flushed and nodded. Bato turned to Hakoda with a worried look in his eyes. “This is what Kanna warned us about,” he hissed in a low voice. “The spirits are invading his dreams!”

Hakoda rubbed his temples and felt his shoulders sag. “Do you trust this lady, Sokka?” he asked. His eyes bore into his son’s matching grey-blue ones and Hakoda was struck with the realization that he didn’t know his son at all. Sokka was a stranger who looked like his son. Had he really missed so much of his son’s life?

“She…she hasn’t steered me wrong yet,” Sokka admitted in a soft voice. “She’s always been there.”

“All right,” Hakoda said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. 

“We’ll see each other again, won’t we?” Touya asked. 

“Of course,” Hakoda said. “And next time you’ll introduce me to Aang, won’t you?”

“Yeah!!” Touya agreed. 

“Then you better get going before you miss your Avatar,” Hakoda chuckled. 

Sokka’s lips quirked into a small smile. “Thanks Dad.” 

* * *

* * *

* * *

“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Ty Lee cried as she clutched her hands. “Don’t worry about it!” Tears threatened to fall from her eyes and she clenched her teeth so hard that her mouth hurt. Not making the feeling any better, was Aang’s constant bombardment of apologies and worry. “Be useful and get me some bandages!” Ty Lee snapped. Aang jumped back slightly, blinking widely, before nodding and running to find a first aid kit. With Aang gone, Ty Lee whimpered and put her hands into the river running by her feet. 

“What did Yu Lee say about burns?” she muttered to herself as she tried not to cry at the sting. “How would I know?” she whimpered to herself. “I don’t get burned.”

"I told you this would happen," a hoarse voice hissed as heavy footsteps carried through the air. “Let me see your hand, girl.” 

“I’m fine,” Ty Lee ground out, but she held out her dripping hands, wincing at the blistering burns on her left hand. He grabbed her wrists and inspected her hands.

“This isn’t fine,” Jeong Jeong said. “These are serious burns. They’re going to scar badly.”

“I’ll be fine as long as I don’t lose any mobility in my hands,” Ty Lee said, gritting her teeth against the pain. The old man looked up at her with an unreadable look. Then he scoffed and grabbed a small bowl of ointment from within his clothes. He started applying the awful smelling paste to her hands. 

“As long as it heals properly, you should be fine,” he said gruffly. He took out clean bandages and wrapped her hands tightly. “You know how to take care of burns don’t you?”

“I know what to do,” Ty Lee grumbled. 

“The good benders of the Water Tribes can heal any wound they come across,” Jeong Jeong said. “I’ve always wished I were blessed like them… Free from this burning curse.”

“Waterbending isn’t all healing and snow cones,” Ty Lee said bitterly. 

The old man shook his head. “Water brings healing and life. Fire brings only destruction and pain. Look at your hands. They will always bear the mark of the flame’s touch. And those cursed must always walk the razor’s edge between humanity and savagery, and eventually we’re torn apart.”

Ty Lee looked at the downcast old man and scoffed. “Those scars on your face weren’t by a firebender. You _know_ fire isn’t the only dangerous element,” she said. “You talk about how great waterbending is, but… I’ve seen what it can do.”

Jeong Jeong shook his head. “How—“ his words were interrupted by a thick blast of flame that struck the water in front of them. Jeong Jeong pushed Ty Lee out of the way as he blocked the second blast. “Go get the boy and flee!” he cried. “Do not come back here or you will all be destroyed!!” 

Ty Lee was up and running in no time at all, barely hearing Jeong Jeong’s last cry to hurry. She ignored the sting of her hands as she ran towards the village for the young airbender. The bison was sitting on the outskirts, content with eating a random piece of grass. “Hey, you!” she said to the bison. “Have you seen Aang?” The creature’s intelligent eyes looked at her for only a moment before pointing its head towards Jeong Jeong’s hut. “Are you kidding me?” she exclaimed. The bison groaned loudly in response but Ty Lee had no idea what the thing was trying to say. “You…get ready to fly! You’re leaving as soon as I get Aang!”

The young acrobat ran towards Jeong Jeong’s hut and all but tore off the cloth serving as a door. “Aang—“ Ty Lee started.

“Jeong Jeong told me I wasn’t ready,” the avatar said. He was alone in the dark, with only a flickering candle serving as his only light. He was facing the wall, with shoulders sagged from sadness. “I wouldn’t listen… I’m never going to firebend again.”

Ty Lee resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Such theatrics. Fu Lee would have loved to meet Aang. They could be overdramatic together. “You’ll have to eventually Aang,” Ty Lee said. “You have to learn all the elements.”

“No,” Aang repeated. “Never again.”

“Okay fine, but we have to go! Someone’s attacking the village and I think they got Jeong Jeong,” Ty Lee said urgently.

“What?” Aang asked, jumping to his feet and facing her in a burst of air. “Where?”

“That doesn’t matter,” Ty Lee said. “We need to go.”

“No!” Aang cried. “I need to help him!”

“But Aang—!“ Ty Lee cried, but Aang had already run out the door in a burst of airbending. “Seriously? With the way you run into danger, it’s a miracle we haven’t caught you yet!” She let out a breath and chased Aang. The boy was fast with his airbending, but Ty Lee caught up to him in no time. She tried to open her mouth to say something, but Aang had already edged ahead of her, towards the river bank where she had left Jeong Jeong. 

“Jeong Jeong!” Aang cried as he approached the river bank. Ty Lee was right on his heels, but came to a screeching halt when she saw Zhao.

“Aang,” Ty Lee said softly. “We need to go. You can’t take on Commander Zhao.”

Aang ignored her and ran to help Jeon Jeong, who was surrounded by firebending soldiers. But Aang’s help was unneeded as the old master disappeared in an orb of flame. Ty Lee gasped and watched as Zhao slowly approached Aang with a smirk on his face. “Men, go capture the deserter,” Zhao said. “He just ran off into the woods.” Then, the man fell into a fighting stance. “Let’s see what my old master has taught you.”

“You’re Jeong Jeong’s student?” Aang gasped. 

“Until I got bored,” Zhao said cockily. And then their fight began in earnest. Zhao was full of powerful flames that singed everything in sight, but Aang was a master of evasion. Ty Lee’s jaw dropped as she saw the goofy kid from the other night dodge with the most impressive airbending techniques she had ever seen. She watched as Zhao set the woods around her on fire and thought that maybe she wasn’t in the best spot to watch the fight. With her resolve steeled, she ran along the edge of the forest in order to get behind Zhao. With his attention all focused on Aang, the commander didn’t notice Ty Lee until it was too late.

“What the!” he cried as Ty Lee jabbed the pressure points on his legs and arms in quick succession.

“Sorry Zhao,” she said in a low voice only he could hear. “He’s mine.”

The downed firebender let out a roar of anger before Ty Lee knocked him out with a well-placed kick. 

“Wow Ty Lee!” Aang cried. “That was amazing!”

“Tell that to my hands,” she said as she winced at the pain.

Aang walked up to Zhao and inspected the prone man’s sleeping form. “It looks like he won’t get up for a while, so we should go check on Jeong Jeong as soon as possible.”

Ty Lee heard the trees rustle behind her as familiar footsteps reached her ears. She shook her head and smiled. “There’s no need for that Aang,” she said sweetly. “Jeong Jeong will be fine.”

“How do you know?” Aang asked worriedly.

“Because I have him right here,” Azula smirked with Commander Wei and a bound Jeong Jeong in tow. “You know Ty, I thought this was going to blow up in our faces, but it didn’t.”

Horror bloomed on Aang’s face as he looked from Ty Lee to Azula and back again. “Ty Lee…” Aang said pitifully. “What’s going on? How does she know you?”

“Aang, this is Princess Azula—“

“I know who she is!” Aang interrupted.

“My sister’s best friend,” Ty Lee continued as if she hadn’t heard Aang speak. Realization dawned on Aang’s face and he grit his teeth. 

“I thought we were friends,” Aang said, betrayal clearly written on his face. “I thought you got me! We’re the same, Ty Lee!”

A vice tightened its grip over her chest, but Ty Lee wasn’t going to let that stop her. Once he just _stop fighting_ , she could get Yu Lee back and they could go home. “I’m nothing like you,” Ty Lee said softly. “Come on Aang,” she said a little louder. “Don’t make it any harder on yourself.”

Aang clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. “I—“

“You don’t have to do anything Aang!!” a high pitched voice cried. Ty Lee bit her lip and sighed. She knew it was too good to be true. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

“DYNAMIC ENTRY!!” Touya yelled and giggled softly as the fire princess and her friends look around wildly for the source of his voice. With a loud roar, Appa emerged from the forest and slapped his tail on the ground. The ground rippled and Sokka took advantage of the bad guys’ lack of balance to steer Appa into the clearing and hold out his hand.

“Come on Aang!” Sokka cried. Aang tore his eyes away from the girl standing apart from the princess and held out his hand for Sokka. The older teen hefted the young airbender into Appa’s saddle and then started flying towards the river.

Touya, who had done a super-secret mission for Sokka, was waving his arms wildly on one of three randomly placed ships. “Don’t forget me you guys!!” Touya cried. 

“We won’t!” Sokka cried. Just like with Aang, Sokka held out his hand and helped Touya climb onto Appa’s head. As soon as Touya got into Appa’s saddle, he climbed over and kissed the back of Appa’s neck. 

“I missed you Appa,” Touya said. “I know we were only apart for a few days, but I really missed you.” Appa rumbled in response and sorted in a way that Touya knew meant, “I love you too, little blue child.”

Touya turned to Aang, who still looked upset and troubled. “Aang?” Touya asked. “I’m sorry for getting mad at you.”

Aang looked up and smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m sorry for hiding the map, Touya,” Aang said. “I just…”

“You want to talk about what happened?” Sokka asked from Appa’s head.

Aang closed his eyes for a long time and then looked at Touya with sad grey eyes. “I thought she really liked me,” Aang said sadly. “I thought we were friends.”

Touya didn’t know what Aang was talking about, but his friend looked so sad. With a furtive glance at Sokka, Touya scooted closer to Aang and gave the older boy a big hug. 

“It’s okay Aang,” Touya said. “We’re all friends again and this time we aren’t gonna leave you.”

Aang smiled a real smile this time and returned the hug. “Thanks Touya, thanks Sokka.”

“No problem Aang,” Sokka replied flippantly. A peaceful silence fell between the three companions, with Momo making his reappearance. The lemur jumped out of Sokka’s pack and climbed onto Aang’s head. 

“Hey Momo,” Aang said. “I have a question though you guys.”

“What?” Sokka asked. 

“How did you guys find me just in time to help me?” Aang asked. “It was all very convenient.”

Touya looked at Sokka for a moment, but when the newly christened man stayed silent, Touya took it upon himself to explain. 

“So I have no idea what happened, except that we were with Dad and then Sokka had a dream about the lady and then we packed and Bato was gonna give us the ostrich horses but then that would have taken a long time.” Touya paused and took a deep breath. “And then Sokka stopped talking and then we went into the water and then—“

“Touya, I don’t think Aang needs to know about all that right now,” Sokka said. “Just know that we got here.”

“O…kay…” Aang said hesitantly. “I’m glad you guys are here though! Let’s go to the North Pole!”

“FINALLY!” Touya cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I haven't betaed, spell checked or even looked at this chapter in it's entirety because I am tired and stressed. I have actually been working on this chapter pretty steadily (and very very slowly) for the past six months and yes, I know I didn't stick to my "one chapter a month" schedule. I figured all of you lovely people who happen to like my story would appreciate just having something up. Thank you for reading and kudos'ing and reviewing if you do all that and thanks for bearing with me.  
> P.S. Got to love the Deus ex Touya and Sokka.


	12. Pirates and Rebels (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still not done with this chapter, but here's what I have so far. Please enjoy the "pirates" part of Pirates and Rebels.

“Sooo….” Ty Lee trailed off. “What are we going to do?” The pink-clad girl was lying on her back, her feet hanging off the side of the ship. Azula thought that if the ship made a sharp turn or hit something, Ty Lee would slide right off.

“What do you mean?” Azula huffed. 

“I mean, what are we going to do?” Ty Lee repeated. “This is the second time we’ve thwarted Commander Zhao and this time, _I_ actually attacked him. We barely made it out of his clutches alive and I’m pretty sure the Fire Lord knows that you’ve violated your banishment by now.” Ty Lee absently picked at the bandages on her hands. “It’s only a matter of time before we get a messenger hawk.”

Leaning on the railing that prevented any accidental drownings, Azula crossed her arms and scowled. “What do you want to do?” she asked. “Since you have so much to say.”

Ty Lee closed her eyes and idly kicked her dangling feet. “I don’t know,” she said after a long pause. “We’re a little stuck now… Aang hasn’t been sighted since the disaster with Jeong Jeong . How is the old man doing, by the way?”

“Better than Zhao’s ships,” Azula chuckled. “I don’t know how they did it, but I’m impressed.“ 

“Touya’s a waterbender,” Ty Lee said. “That’s probably where all the holes came from.”

“Touya?” Azula asked.

“Sokka’s little brother,” Ty Lee said with a huff. “It’s been over a month and you _still_ don’t know their names?”

“Their names don’t matter,” Azula snarled. “All that matters is continuing our course.” 

“You're always so single-minded,” Ty Lee muttered. “No wonder you and my sister get along so well.” 

Azula didn't appreciate the dig at herself or Yu Lee. “You’re too flighty,” Azula retorted. “I’m surprised you haven’t flown off into the sun yet.”

Ty Lee sighed deeply. “Just you wait Azula. I’ll fly off one day,” Ty Lee said with a hint of something unrecognizable in her voice. It almost sounded like longing.

“After we find the Avatar,” Azula said, the confidence in her voice faltering.

“After we find Aang,” Ty Lee agreed. “And I’ll have to tell Mama and Dad, all my sisters and Granny Tai first. And then I’ll fly off.”

Azula pursed her lips. “I’d rather be on the firm ground. How else will I become Fire Lord?”

Ty Lee finally opened her eyes and gave Azula a sardonic grin. “You’re royalty ‘Zula,” she said. “Once we get ol’ fuddy duddy and dear big brother out of the way, thats it. You’re Fire Lord. The rest of us have only marriage and children to look forward to.”

She supposed Ty Lee was right. Despite the pink girl’s frequent complaints, this was probably the most freedom she would ever have, here on the ship. Even if she wasn’t the crown princess, Azula was able to achieve more than Ty Lee ever could. “I’d make you a part of my cabinet,” Azula offered. Even if she didn’t care much for Ty Lee most of the time, Azula couldn’t bear to see Yu Lee forced to a life of matrimony.

“Does the Fire Lord even have a cabinet?” Ty Lee asked.

“She will,” Azula said confidently. 

Ty Lee looked towards the sky and gave a small, gentle smile. “Of course she will,” she said softly.

* * *

After the one hundredth repetition of Touya’s wrist-flicker-water-mover technique, Sokka was starting to curse the lady for her ‘wondrous gift’. He didn’t need to waterbend, he had been perfectly fine without any magic water woo-hoo. He had his trusty Boomy and his machete to depend on for all his needs. What use did he have for waterbending? That was stuff Touya and Aang could do while on their magical quest for world balance. Sokka could be the meat and sarcasm guy or something unremarkable like that. 

“So…” Aang started. “How was your visit with your dad?” Unlike Sokka, Aang had mastered the wrist-flicker-water-mover technique and was concentrating on the large-water-bubble-creation move. Sokka tried to squash the feelings of jealously and frustration and tried to focus on the push and pull of the water. 

“You didn’t seem happy when you came back,” Aang pointed out. “Not like Touya. He couldn’t stop talking about how great it was.” 

“He’s just…” Sokka sighed. “I don’t know. Touya gets along with Dad better than I do.” 

“Why not?” Aang asked as he collapsed the bubble and sent the stream of water towards Sokka. Instead of hitting him in the face, like Sokka expected, the water thinned out and encircled him. Sokka eyed it with irritation. 

“There are a lot of things about Dad that Touya doesn’t know,” Sokka said broodily. “Or Bato.” 

“Like what?” Aang asked. When Sokka didn’t say anything, Aang spoke up again. “Does it have to do with Katara?” 

Sokka stopped practicing and sent Aang an icy glare. The air chilled. “Why do you say that?” 

“You always get moody when she comes up,” Aang pointed out. “Moody and mad and now that you’re a waterbender, you make the air cold.” Sokka blinked and looked away sheepishly. He didn’t know that his new talents extended so far. “You know, Touya doesn’t know much about her,” Aang continued. 

“What’s there to tell?” Sokka spat. “He knows all the important parts. She was here and now she’s gone. What more is there to know?” 

“Ty Lee sai—um, if you talk about it, you might feel better,” Aang offered helpfully. 

“I feel fine,” Sokka ground out. 

Aang raised an eyebrow but he nodded. 

“It’s just…he didn’t try to save her!” Sokka confessed. “He just let Yon Rha take her!” 

Aang nodded again as he let Sokka continue. 

“And then he acts like nothing happened! I think about her all the time! I’m trying to save her! What is he doing!?” 

Aang sighed and dropped his water on the ground. “Maybe you should talk to him about it,” Aang said. “The next time you see him.” 

“Whatever,” Sokka muttered, averting his steely gaze to his water. 

After a long moment of silence, Aang spoke up again. “Are you sure that she’s okay?” Aang asked. “What if…what if they did to her what they did to Monk Gyasto?” 

“No,” Sokka said quickly. “She’s okay. I _know_ she’s okay.” 

“Okay,” Aang said softly. “As long as you know, I guess.” 

“I—“ 

“Guys!! GUYS!!” Touya cried as he barreled through the clearing. 

“Could he stop interrupt—“ 

“Momo ate all our food!” Touya finished, interrupting Sokka. Sokka sighed as Touya held up the lemur gingerly. “He even found the jerky Dad gave us!” 

Sokka let the water drop from his grasp, not that he had a tight grasp on it anyway. He fixed his sternest gaze onto Momo, but his resolve shattered in the face of Momo’s soulful eyes. “He’s just hungry,” Sokka pleaded. 

Touya shook his head and scowled. “We have to get more food now!” 

“It’s not like we had much left anyway,” Aang muttered. 

Touya turned his disapproving stare to Aang. “I don’t appreciate your tone,” Touya said authoritatively. Sokka snorted and gently took Momo from Touya. The lemur wiggled out of his grasp and settled on his shoulder. “Aang’s right,” Sokka said. “We were running low.” 

“That didn’t mean Momo had to eat all of our food!” Touya pointed out. “This is all his fault.” 

Sokka rolled his eyes and walked back to their small makeshift camp. In camp, Appa was lounging in the rays of the weak winter sun. He cracked an eye open to see the trio make their way towards him and groaned loudly. 

“Come on Appa,” Aang said. “We need to go into the village we passed a few days ago.” Appa groaned again and turned his head away from Aang. “I know you don’t want to go, but we’re out of food,” Aang said. “And other things…” 

Appa huffed moodily and put his head on the ground. Coming to the rescue, Touya climbed onto Appa’s head and dangled his torso over Appa’s forehead until Appa blearily cracked an eye open and they made eye contact. “Please Appa,” Touya pleaded with big sparkling blue eyes. Nothing could resist Touya’s sparkling eyes, not even Appa. With a resigned sigh, Appa stood up and eyed Aang expectantly. 

“I’ve known Appa for one hundred and six years,” Aang muttered to Sokka as the two blithely watched Touya pat Appa’s head. “And he only listens to me when he feels like it. It’s only been a month and Touya has him wrapped around his little finger.” 

“Yeah…Touya’s really good at making people do what he wants,” Sokka said. The lady’s words rang in Sokka’s head. He was the man now; he should be taking charge, not Touya. But, Touya was his baby brother and Sokka couldn’t say no to that adorable face. Not easily anyway. Maybe it was time to pull his weight and emerge as the leader of this little group. He was their elder. He had to start acting like it. Or else they’d end up back on Kyoshi Island, riding giant koi fish. 

“Well, Touya’s already on Appa so you should get on too, Aang,” Sokka said. With one last dirty look at Touya, Aang climbed into Appa’s saddle and stewed in silence. Sokka sighed as he got on Appa. “Get in the saddle, Touya,” Sokka said. 

Touya pouted. “I want to steer Appa this time. You and Aang do it all the time!” 

“You’re a kid,” Sokka pointed out. “And kids sit in the saddle.” 

Touya opened his mouth to retort, but one harsh glare from his brother was enough to silence any words of rebuttal. “Okay,” Touya muttered. “I’ll get in the saddle.” 

Sokka smiled brightly as he went on Appa’s head and grabbed the reins. Maybe this ‘being the boss’ thing wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

* * *

* * *

“I swear to Tui, if you ask for _one more thing,_ I will—“ 

“But _Sokka_ ,” Aang whined. “We _need_ this bison whistle! You have no idea how useful this is!”

“That’s what you said about the scale model of Gaoling!” Sokka snapped. “Where is Gaoling!? Can you find it on the map!?”

Aang shuffled his feet and looked sheepish. “No,” he said, but he brightened and gave one of his patented grins. “But you can!”

Sokka felt his left eye twitch and the pressure in his temples increase. Was this it? Was this what being a man felt like? Was this what being a man was? It sucked salty horse-seal balls. Touya couldn’t keep his grubby hands off of the merchandise, resulting in narrowed glances by merchants and Aang…Aang just thought money grew on trees. Sokka had no idea how flippant someone could be when the fate of the world rested on their shoulders, until he met Aang.

“Aang—”

“Sokka, _please?_ ” Those big sparkling grey eyes proved to be too much for Sokka. That, and the realization that Aang would never shut up if he didn’t get his way, something he _had_ to have learned from Touya. With a vicious scowl, he turned to the merchant.

“One bison whistle please,” Sokka said through his gritted teeth.

The merchant looked around helplessly, before coughing slightly and giving a weak smile. 

“Normally that whistle costs three silver pieces,” the man said. Sokka had no idea what his face looked like, but it was enough to make the man’s dusky skin turn sheet white. “But for you, I’ll sell it for one copper piece!” The man’s voice squeaked at the end, which only made Aang grin wider. Sokka sighed and got a copper coin from his coin purse. After the exchange of money for goods, Sokka turned to Aang with a stern glare. “Don’t ask for anything else,” he warned.

“What else could I possibly want?” Aang asked, gazing at the bison whistle in awe. “Thanks Sokka!”

If Aang’s gratitude lightened Sokka’s mood, he didn’t show it. “Where’s Touya?” Sokka asked instead.

Aang started to shrug his shoulders, but thought better of it and looked around the marketplace. “He said he was going to find some meat,” Aang said. “But I don’t see him by the meat stall—” “HEY GUYS LOOK OVER HERE!” a loud voice rang through the crowd. “I found Touya,” Aang said. Sokka rolled his eyes. “We _all_ found Touya,” he muttered. “I thought we were trying to be inconspicuous?” Aang shrugged flippantly. “I have arrows tattooed to my forehead,” Aang pointed out. “I don’t think we could blend in if we tried.” Sokka looked at Aang and took in the other’s bright yellow clothes and stark blue arrows.

“Hmm,” Sokka mused. “We’ll need to do something about that.”

“Didn’t you say that before?” Aang asked.

“Probably,” Sokka said after a short silence. “Each day feels like it drags on for years so I don’t really remember—“

Touya stomped over to his brother and Aang with a pout on his face. “When I say, ‘Hey guys, look over here,’” Touya said. “You guys should come over and look. Stop standing around and looking dumb!”

This was it. This was the moment Sokka had been waiting for ever since he resolved to be a man and take control of this little rag-tag group of himself, his baby brother and the last airbender who also happened to be the Avatar. This was the moment of truth. The moment where he made the Moon Spirit proud and stood up to his brother.

“Touya—“

“No, I said come on!” Touya interrupted and grabbed Sokka’s and Aang’s wrists in each arm and yanked them away from the shop. As Sokka let himself be dragged off, he mused that the entire encounter went pretty well.

Touya dragged them past the bustling marketplace towards the docks, where large wooden ships rocked gently on the waves. Each ship was built from the same reddish wood and with the really illustrious-looking ones had red fans serving as sails. For an Earth Kingdom hub in an Earth Kingdom village, there were a lot of red colored items just randomly lying around. Sokka was starting to feel suspicious.

Of course, Touya dragged them to the most ornately designed and flashy ship on the docks. A spindly man wearing various shades of green was heralding uninterested passerby with cries of, “Earth Nation, Fire Nation, Water Nation! So long as bargains are your inclination, you’re welcome here! Don’t be shy, come on by!” The man’s selling pitch didn’t seem to be working, as nobody even turned to look at him. Except for Touya. “Ah!” The man said with a bright smile. “I didn’t think you’d be coming back! And you brought friends!”

“I told you I would!” Touya beamed at the man and then turned to Sokka and Aang. “This place has exotic curios,” he said excitedly.

Sokka wasn’t impressed. “Do you even know what curios are, Touya?” Sokka asked skeptically.

“Yes!!” Touya insisted. “And they’re all in that shop!” 

“Exactly!” The man agreed. “We have everything you’ll ever need!”

With a large grin, the man squeezed in between Aang and Touya and led them towards the ship. Huffing, Sokka followed them. He held the coin purse tight to his body and narrowed his eyes at the man.

The interior of the ship was completely different than the Water Tribe ships that Sokka had been on. The ship was lined with metal and the walls were filled with shelves sagging with the weight random knick-knacks and, what Sokka would assume, curios. Touya, being true to form, kept touching random things, and Aang’s eyes lit up every time they fell on something. And even though Sokka was not impressed and most definitely did not want to spend any coin on curios, that ruby-eyed monkey was oddly compelling. He would have to send it back to Mom and Gran-Gran, since Appa’s saddle didn’t have any shelf space. But the rubies eyes glittered so prettily in such dim lighting, so Sokka had—

“I’ve never seen such a fine specimen of lemur,” a raspy voice said. A shady looking man, with grey hair, a wide brimmed hat and some kind of creature perched on his shoulder, stepped into the room. “It would fetch a hefty sum if you’re interested in… bartering.”

“He’s not for sale,” Sokka said immediately, stepping protectively in between Aang, Momo and the man. Sokka didn’t have a lot of experience in the world outside of his tribe, but he knew a pirate when he saw one. “We should go,” Sokka told Aang and Touya. “I’m really sorry,” he said, turning back to the pirate. “But, we don’t really have the money to shop in a fine establishment.”

“Don’t worry about that!” the pirate said with a sharp-toothed smile. “We can always come to an agreement. I’d hate to turn away such a valuable customer based on something as trifling as money.”

“Thank you for the offer,” Sokka replied, trying to catch his companions’ eyes. “But we don’t really deal with pirates.”

The pirate looked shocked and with a large smile, the other man threw his arm around Sokka’s shoulders. “We prefer to think of ourselves as high-risk traders.”

“Wow that’s exciting!” Aang said. “Come on, maybe we can stay a little—“

Surprisingly, Sokka didn’t speak up. “I think Sokka’s right,” Touya said in a soft voice. “We should just go. This stuff is too expensive.”

Sokka and Aang blinked dumbly and Sokka was sure his jaw dropped as he looked from Touya, to Aang and back to Touya. “Really?” Aang asked. “You never ever complain about expensive stuff. I thought you liked expensive things.”

Touya pouted and crossed his arms. “Well maybe I matured and decided that being…” Touya trailed off and looked at Sokka expectantly.

“Frugal?” Sokka offered.

“Frugal is the best course of action considering our adventures,” Touya finished confidently. “Jeez Aang, grow up.”

Aang looked put out and Sokka couldn’t wipe the dumbstruck look off of his face. Touya didn’t want to buy anything? What was wrong with his baby brother? Sokka stepped over to put his hand on Touya’s forehead and then his neck. Touya didn’t appreciate the gestures.

“I’m fine!” he cried, slapping Sokka’s hand away. “Let’s just go,” he mumbled as he crossed his arms and looked away from Sokka’s concerned face.

“Okay,” Sokka said, and then he turned to the pirates. “Excuse us gentlemen.” He grabbed Aang’s arm and smiled to the pirates as he dragged Aang out of the ship. Shockingly, in the time it had taken Sokka to get Aang, Touya was already outside. But, even outside, Touya’s strange mood persisted. He quietly trailed after Aang and Sokka as they continued to buy supplies. Even when jerky, dried seal jerky, was mentioned, Touya just shrugged.

“I’m worried about Touya,” Sokka whispered to Aang.

Aang looked at Touya’s hunched back and furrowed his brow. “Do you think the curios had something to do with it?” Aang asked. Sokka shrugged. He still didn’t know what curios were, even as his heart still yearned for the ruby-eyed monkey. Aang spoke up again. “Maybe we should just ask him when we get back to camp.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Sokka said. Then he looked back to see Touya dejectedly kicking some gravel. “Touya,” Sokka said and Touya looked up from the ground. “Do you need anything else?”

Touya shook his head. “Okay then,” Sokka responded. “Let's get back to camp then.”

With Touya in the lead, they walked back to camp without incident and Sokka busied himself with organizing their new supplies. They still had a decent amount of money from King Bumi, and Touya’s insistence that the village elder pay them for their service with Hei Bai actually paid off, in more ways than one. So Sokka didn't see them hurting for money any time soon, even in the face of Aang’s frivolous purchases. As long as Sokka kept a tight hold on the money bag, everything would be fine.

“Aang! Sokka!” Touya called from by the stream that ran adjacent from their camp. “Come over here!”

They dutifully followed Touya’s orders and Sokka tried not to think of the implications. “Okay, I have an announcement to make,” Touya said brightly. Compared to his dour mood earlier, a huge grin was threatening to overtake his face. “So while you guys were distracted by the curios, I did something very important,” Touya went on. He kept fiddling with the sleeve of his parka as he made his announcement. “I took...this!” Touya revealed a tightly rolled scroll from his sleeve and said, “Ta-da!!”

“Cool!!” Aang gushed. “But, uh, what is it?”

“It's a waterbending scroll!” Touya said proudly. “You can tell because of the symbol on the side.” Touya tilted the scroll to show the emblem of the Water Tribes engraved into the handle. “This will be perfect for teaching us while we go to the North Pole!”

“Cool!” Aang repeated, more impressed than he was before. The two boys started chattering incessantly about the coolness of the waterbending scroll as Sokka frowned. He should have known something was up when Touya started that affected mopey mood. He should have known. Touya always pulled something like this when he had something to hide. He either hid, or acted overly happy, or now, overly sad. Sokka didn’t know whether to be proud that his baby brother was becoming sneakier or upset that he was getting better at lying.

“Where did you get that?” Sokka asked, cutting Aang’s and Touya’s excitement short. “I didn't give you any money and you didn't ask me for anything.” 

Touya pouted and crossed his arms. “Does it matter?” he asked. “I have it now and it'll help us.”

“Where did you get that?” Sokka repeated in a stern voice.

Touya puffed up in defiance before deflating almost immediately. “I stole it from the pirates,” he admitted. “But come on, they were pirates! They probably stole this off some poor waterbender!”

Of course. “That doesn't matter!” Sokka retorted. “This isn't like at home where you can just take whatever you want and nothing happens! You stole from dangerous pirates! Touya, this isn't a game!”

“I should have known you were gonna be a jerk about it,” Touya muttered. “What does it matter now? I took it and the pirates don't know I did it.”

Sokka pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Yet,” Sokka said. “We should go, before they realize Touya took their scroll and find us.”

“I don't think that's--” Touya started.

“No,” Sokka said firmly. “I won't make you give back the scroll, but I'm not going to take any more chances. We're already in enough danger.” Sokka sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He absent-mindedly realized that he was going to need a haircut soon. “Pack up and let's go.”

* * *

“So…?”

“I don't wanna say it.” 

“I'm waiting.” 

“Fine.” In defeat, Touya crossed his arms and looked away from Sokka’s smug face. “You were right. You're always right,” Touya muttered. 

Satisfied, Sokka went back to unpacking. After Touya revealed the scroll, Sokka made sure that they stayed far away from that village and its coast. Appa was exhausted, but they were hours away from any pirates and way out of their reach. Sokka thanked the spirits again that his father taught him how to read a map. One day, Sokka would have to teach Touya, just in case. 

“Okay so we have a lot of water here for you to do your magic water thing,” Sokka said. 

“You aren't going to learn from the scroll with us Sokka?” Aang asked. 

Sokka shrugged. “I don't think it'd help me out much,” he said. “I'm such a novice compared to you two.” 

Touya waved the scroll in front of Sokka’s face. “That's why you practice!” Touya said. “I wasn't born this good at bending! I had to work really hard at it.” 

Sokka swatted Touya’s hand away and took out a bag of dried jerky. Successfully distracted, Touya took the bag and started munching on a piece of jerky. 

“Touya’s right, you know,” Aang said. “You have to practice before you get good at anything. I had to study airbending for years before I got my tattoos.” 

Sokka fought the urge to roll his eyes. Aang was only trying to help, but what did that matter? Sokka was nearly twelve years behind in his waterbending studies. He’d never ever waterbended, not before that day on the beach of Crescent Island. He was so upset, and then the rage transformed into something _else_. Sokka had no idea what it was, but the feeling reminded him of the lady. Fitting, since she thought giving him waterbending was a good gift. Logically, Sokka knew that it was incredibly useful. Once he became competent enough, having three benders would be really safe for them, plus Sokka was a weapons master; if he or Touya ran out of water, Sokka could make a deadly weapon out of a stick, if he tried hard enough. Maybe he could teach Aang how to use that air glider for more than just air gliding. 

“Listen Sokka,” Aang said. “Let’s just learn the forms on the scroll to tide us over until we get to the North Pole. Touya didn’t go through all that trouble stealing it for nothing.” 

“He wasn’t supposed to steal it anyway,” Sokka muttered, but it was a moot point. “Fine, we’ll study the forms.” 

Aang and Touya cheered and gave each other a high-five. Sokka was too old to partake in such festivities, but he gave them a smile anyway. “Okay, you’re excited, I get it,” Sokka said. “You two act like I always say no.” Aang and Touya shared a look. 

“Well…” Aang started, clearly searching for the right words to say. 

“You’re a downer,” Touya said bluntly through a mouthful of jerky. “You’re always like, ‘Touya, that’s too dangerous,’ or ‘Aang, don’t ride that giant boar or else it’ll eat you,’ or ‘Don’t antagonize that wild polar bear dog or you’re gonna get your face torn off.’” 

That sounded like something Sokka would say multiple times in a day, so Touya had a point, but he wasn’t going to say that. Instead he said, “That polar bear dog was a vicious beast and if I hadn’t saved you, you wouldn’t have a face right now.” 

“It was a little puppy-cub!” Touya cried. 

“With his deadly and vicious mom close by,” Sokka retorted as he crossed his arms. “Now are you going to teach us these waterbending forms or what?” 

* * *

With every breath, she felt the flame flicker. Further, she could hear the low murmur of voices in the cafeteria, and the squirrelly machinations of the navigator. Further still, tickling the edges of her consciousness, were Ty Lee, who was practicing her acrobatics, and Wei, who must have been watching her. The two of them were silent, which made sense in Azula’s mind. Since their bittersweet victory on the Fire Days Festival, Ty Lee and Wei had become much closer. Azula thought that maybe finally, Ty Lee was starting to think of her as a friend, but since that day, they’ve only spoken once. 

But, she didn’t focus on that. Instead, she took a deep breath and became one with the cosmos. She felt content and linked to everything that ever existed. This must have been what Yu Lee meant when she said to ‘feel the chi in the air’. Everything was connected, from the smallest speck of dust to the biggest saber-tooth moose lion. That sounded like some stupid coal dust her mother would parrot from her uncle, but it sounded profound when Yu Lee said it. She was always full of good advice and helpful words, even if she was a little bossy. Only she would be able to boss around the crown princess of the Fire Nation without being banished, but Yu Lee always felt more like a sister than a friend. Since their first real meeting, the two of them were inseparable. She missed Yu Lee, she missed Yu Lee so much. 

Azula pushed those thoughts out of her head and focused again on her breathing. In her distraction, the candle flame had dwindled. She watched the flame grow as her breathing became steadier and her focus intensified. Controlling the flame used to come naturally. Azula remembered a time when she used to be the best firebender in the palace. She could bend circles around her brother, her cousin, and all of her instructors. She was the best and then after her banishment, she was stuck with Wei and his obsession with teaching her basics that she already knew. If she had stayed in her homeland, Azula had no doubt that she’d have blue flames. 

A timid knock resounded through Azula’s meditation chamber and Azula sighed. Her breath extinguished the flame and she opened her eyes. “Enter,” she said. 

The door creaked open and an impeccably groomed head poked inside. “Azula, sorry to interrupt your meditation,” Wei said, looking very not-sorry at interrupting her meditation. “But, Zhu-Qiang says there’s something going on with the ship.” 

Her limbs were stiff from her meditation, but Azula exaggerated the difficulty she had standing up. She could feel Wei roll his eyes. “What’s wrong with the ship?” Azula asked. “I haven’t felt any turbulence or shakiness or engine sputters.” 

“You know why we have navigators, Azula?” Wei asked. “It’s because they’re trained to navigate the seas and make sure we don’t get lost.” 

“Then why is ours telling us about what’s wrong with the ship?” 

“Because your uncle threw you on board and said, ‘good luck,’ that’s why,” Wei muttered. 

“Whatever,” Azula spat. She turned and brushed past Wei with all the pride she had left before stopping and looking back. “Who’s Zhu-Qiang?”

* * *

The first waterbending form was something called the water whip. The water whip was a move where the user bent a large amount of water and then thinned it into a deadly stream. The diagram on the scroll looked very simple. There were only a few steps, very basic, simple steps, to follow and in theory, the move was very beginner. In practice however… 

“I give up!!” Touya cried, throwing his water onto the grass and stomping off. “It’s too hard!” 

Sokka sighed and turned to Aang, who was handling his frustration much better. “Let’s take a break,” Sokka said. Aang nodded and bent his water back into the stream. Sokka had difficulty even moving the water, so he didn’t have any water to throw down in anger. If it hadn’t been for that impressive display of power on Crescent Island, Sokka wouldn’t even believe that he was a waterbender. His power was spotty at best. Sometimes he could control the water just fine and other times he couldn’t even make it move. It felt so weird for him to just move his hand and have the water follow him. Sometimes, he wanted to ask the lady how his power worked and how to make it work, but he hadn’t had one of his strange spirit dreams in a while. His dreams were really inconvenient; he only ever had them when the lady wanted to talk to him about the fate of the world or whatever. Never when he _really_ needed her. 

Unaffected by his brother’s brooding, Touya was deep in his own thoughts, at least Sokka assumed so, based on Touya’s furrowed brow. After stomping off, Touya was laying on Appa’s back, absentmindedly petting the bison’s fur. In a few moments, Aang saddled up to Touya and sighed loudly. 

“What?” Touya asked in an annoyed voice. 

“We just need more practice with the water whip,” Aang said. “Like I told Sokka, it’ll just take some time before we’re good at it.” 

Touya crossed his arms and pouted. “I know,” he muttered. “But I thought I was going to be great at this.” 

Sokka headed towards Touya and climbed on Appa, making himself comfortable right next to his baby brother. “You are great at this,” Sokka said. “Come on Touya, think about it. You couldn’t even practice at home and look how far you’ve come. You’ve saved our skins loads of time.” 

There was a smile playing at the corners of Touya’s mouth, but he still kept his arms crossed. “Yeah, but I couldn’t even do the water whip.” 

“I can’t do it either,” Sokka said. 

“But you’re not good at waterbending,” Touya retorted. 

Sokka opened his mouth to fire back, but he took a deep breath and tried to be understanding. 

“Hey Aang,” Sokka said. “Could you go start dinner or something? You can roast those chestnuts in the pack, if Momo hasn’t eaten them all.” 

With a very skeptical look, Aang looked between Sokka and the bright afternoon sky before nodding and gallivanting off. Now that the two of them were alone, Sokka sighed deeply and scooted right next to his little brother. He draped his arm over Touya’s shoulders and pushed them closer together. 

“Touya, you shouldn’t compare your progress to Aang’s progress,” Sokka said. “Aang is the Avatar and the Avatar has learned all four elements over countless lives. Of course he’s going to have an easier time learning waterbending. He’s already done it before.” Sokka paused and glanced at Touya to see if he were listening. Though Touya wasn’t looking anywhere in Sokka’s direction, his eyes were full of realization. 

“We’re new to this,” Sokka said. “We’re new to waterbending and we’re normal people. More or less. We don’t have cosmic powers that make bending easier for us. We’re going at a normal rate while Aang’s going at an accelerated pace. So don’t feel so bad, okay? We’ll get there.” 

Touya nodded with a sigh. “It’s not fair,” he muttered. 

“I know,” Sokka said. “But, that’s just something we have to deal with. Life is never fair.” His thoughts turned toward the day of black snow and clutched Touya tighter. “We’ll make the best of what we have, and try a little harder with the scroll, okay?” 

Touya nodded. Satisfied, Sokka ruffled Touya’s hair and broke the embrace. “Okay, let’s go make sure Aang doesn’t explode any of those chestnuts,” Sokka said. He smoothly climbed off Appa and headed towards their little makeshift camp. Aang had managed to salvage a few chestnuts from Momo’s nefarious clutches and was now staring at a pile of unlit firewood. 

“Do you think those are going to roast themselves?” Sokka asked with a raised brow. 

Aang gave Sokka a scathing look. “I know how to roast chestnuts,” Aang retorted. “I’m just…trying to make a fire,” he finished lamely. 

Sokka looked at the firewood and noticed the lack of any fire-making materials in the vicinity. “Unless you plan on firebending your way to a roaring campfire—“ 

“I don’t want to firebend anymore,” Aang said softly. He sighed loudly and started poking the chestnuts with his finger. “You know how I met Jeong Jeong right?” 

Sokka nodded. Despite the dynamic in the group not changing a bit, they had only reunited a few days ago. Sokka didn’t forget that easily. 

“Well…you saw the other girl I was with?” Aang asked. “Not Azula, but the girl in pink?”

Sokka thought back and remembered vaguely another girl standing next to Princess Azula. Granted, he didn’t remember many details about her, since he was more focused on making sure that he, Aang and Touya didn’t fall into Zhao’s clutches. It really helped that the two of them didn’t get along and worked against each other. Sokka quickly learned that there was some deep seated animosity between Azula and Zhao and while Azula was relentless in her pursuit, Sokka had the sneaking suspicion that Zhao was the bigger threat. “Sure,” Sokka said flippantly. “The other one that tried to kill us.” 

Aang winced and nodded his head. “Yeah,” he said softly. “That’s Ty Lee.” 

“What about Ty Lee has your tunic in a knot?” Sokka asked. 

“Jeong Jeong was teaching me how to firebend,” Aang said. “Even though I still haven’t learned waterbending, he taught me how to and when I was practicing, I accidently burned her.” 

“Aang, I know you’re a nice guy and all, but why do you care?” Sokka asked. He found one of their bags, and started rummaging through it. “She, along with the princess and Zhao, is trying to catch us so we can be a nice little present for the Fire Lord. You should be trying to burn her on purpose.” 

“I don’t want to burn anybody!” Aang cried. “Especially not her! She--she was so nice to me…” 

“A ploy to get your guard down,” Sokka said as he pulled out two rocks. “She tried to catch you and she _did_ catch Jeong Jeong. She was just lying.” 

“I don't think she was…”Aang said. 

“I know this world is a lot different than the one from 100 years ago,” Sokka said. “But for the past hundred years, the Fire Nation has been on a crusade to destroy the world. Don't trust any of them.” Aang fell silent as he watched Sokka strike the two rocks together. Weak sparks fell on the wood, smoldering until one finally caught flame. “There's a reason they're called the Fire Nation,” Sokka said, blowing on the flames. 

Touya made his way towards the fire and plopped in the dirt next to Aang. Momo had followed Touya and was now eyeing the chestnuts still in the dirt. Aang pushed Momo away from the chestnuts and grabbed them. 

“How do I even roast chestnuts?” Aang asked. 

“Don't you just throw them in the fire?” Touya asked with a shrug. 

Sokka groaned and slapped his head against his forehead. “It's more than that!” Sokka said. “There's a finesse to doing these things.”

Aang looked at the chestnuts in his hand and then looked at the fire. Thoughts flittered on his face before he threw the chestnuts into the fire. Sokka sighed and ran his hand through his hair. This was going to be an ordeal.


End file.
